Sakura Goes to Hogwarts!
by juufan
Summary: Chapter #5 is up....and Chapter #1 is up too! Yay~~!!!! This is my first Harry Potter/CCS crossover, so please R+R! Anyway, the CCS gang goes to Hogwarts, and some really odd things happen. Please tell me whther i should continue this fic!
1. Diagon Alley

It was a peaceful morning in the Tomoeda neighborhood. There was only the sweet, soft chirping of the birds that were flying through the air. The pink cherry blossoms were fully in bloom due to the beautiful spring morning, and almost all the branches of the trees were in full bloom with this magnificent show of nature. 

The serenity of the morning was broken by the loud ringing of the alarm clock that came from the Kinomoto house, right up from Sakura's room. There in the bed, lay the brown haired girl fast asleep, most oblivious of the loud, annoying ring of the bell. 

Slowly, a small, yellow head appeared as Kero drowsily poked his head out of his bedroom (that served as a drawer too). Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he flew to the alarm clock before shutting it off and plopping himself down on the table. Turning his head to look at the still sleeping form of his mistress, he inhaled, knowing that he might get a yelling just for this. 

"Sakura-chan! Wake up!!!" 

His voice seemed to echo around the entire house as he yelled those words. Sakura sat up, instantly alert as her green eyes roamed around. "Nanda? What is it? Where's the fire? Where's the earthquake?" 

Kero sighed as he shook his head. She would never change although she had already become the new mistress of the Clow cards, did she? Half gliding and half flying, he made his way to her bed as she spun around, still in a matter of shock. He sighed, sitting down on the rumpled covers as she turned to look at him. 

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan," he spoke, settling down onto the sheets before he began to snore again. She smiled down at him, wondering how it could all add up to this. 

One year ago, she had been an average, normal, fourth grade girl before she had opened a mysterious book labeled "The Clow". Since then, she had embarked through many journeys to find the 'Clow cards' as they were called, and became the new mistress of the newly transformed 'Sakura cards'. She then had met Eriol, who had helped her convert the Clow cards into Sakura cards while she was under the care of her two guardians, Cerberus and Yue. 

She sighed, looking down at her wand. This star tipped wand held the key to all the secrets to the deck of the mysterious Sakura cards, that could actually bring disaster to the world if unleashed. In fact, it was possible to say that she was holding the fate of the world in her hands because of this. 

Suddenly, a white envelope floated down from nowhere, landing on her bed with the slightest swish. Intrigued, she picked it up, inspecting the stiff texture of the item before finally carefully tearing open the envelope. 

It read: 

HOGWARTS SCHOOL   
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY  
  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore   
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,   
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) 

Dear Miss Kinomoto, 

You are to report to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as soon as possible. We have been waiting for your delayed arrival since the last year, and look forward to you joining us this year here in Hogwarts. 

Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress. 

Sakura blinked, rereading the letter. Her leaf green eyes reflected the confusion inside her as she set the letter down on to the table beside her. Where was this Hogwarts, and why had they been waiting for her? 

Standing up, she rubbed her eyes, clearing it from any last traces of sleep before trudging to the bathroom. She had no idea what this Hogwarts was, but perhaps her father might know. 

After all, he was one of the most unexpected people that she knew  


-------

Li sat up in bed, yawning as he stretched sleepily. He hadn't counted on waking up so early since his return to Hong Kong , but he knew that his mother wouldn't want him up late for a new day of training. 

Things weren't the same since he left Tomoeda, he reflected as he dragged himself to the bathroom before splashing the cold water from the sink onto himself. He had left what he cared most just for his position as the potential future heir of the Li clan: Sakura. 

He froze, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried not to think about the girl that he missed ever so much. He didn't want to look back, to regret the decision that he had made a year earlier. That was all the past- he had to concentrate on the future now. 

Besides, he had no idea if he would ever return to Japan. It was no use hoping over things that he knew he would never had, so it was best that he concentrate on fulfilling his duties as leader of the clan first. 

LATER, MEANWHILE DURING BREAKFAST   


Li Yelan peered over her newspaper, watching him as he took a dumpling from the plate. He was acting strange this morning, she could tell as she narrowed her eyes and frowned. It was just as well, as she had something to tell him. 

Clearing her throat, she gazed over at him as he looked up. "Li-kun, there's something you should know," she began slowly, keeping a wary eye on him as she spoke. "After your first visit to Hong Kong during the holidays, I've received a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry confirming your slot in the school." 

He nodded, still not comprehending the true meaning of her words. It seemed that the full effect of the words hadn't hit him, or at least, not yet. 

"Just this morning, I've received a letter from the school saying that you can join their second year despite missing one entire year of the school term. They want you to report there by this week." 

He frowned, now beginning to understand what she meant. "Kaasanwhere is this Hogwarts?" 

She inhaled sharply, knowing that she was going to drop a bombshell if she were to tell him the truth, but she had no choice. 

"England." 

Raising an eyebrow, he leaned forward with a serious frown on his face. "Kaasanyou don't really expect me to go, ne?" 

She gazed at him seriously, making eye contact as she nodded slowly. "I never joke, Li-kun. You're my son. You should know me well enough. Can you start packing by today? The flight to England is tomorrow." 

"Not well enough, I see," he grumbled as he nodded. There was no way he could go against his mother's wishes, so it was just as well that he followed what she wanted. 

"Very well, kaasan." 

-------

Nakuru skipped out to the garden, singing a soft melody as she opened the mailbox to check for mail. The mailman here didn't come much earlier than the one in Tomoeda she reflected as she retrieved an envelope. So why was there a letter here already? 

She snorted, dismissing her suspicions as she closed the red door of the mailbox. After all, Spinel Sun had been in charge of taking in the mail yesterday. He could have missed this one by accident. 

"Nakuru, whose letter is that?" 

She jumped, spinning around in shock, only to see Eriol standing at the doorway, smiling his common smile at her. She sighed in relief, handing the letter to him. Arching a fine eyebrow, he took it from her and carefully opened the flap. 

Reading the contents of the letter, his facial expressions seemed to shift. The guardian blinked, trying to peer at the letter. "What is it, Eriol-kun? What does the letter say?" 

He sighed, handing the envelope to her. "I have to enroll in Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry again. The headmaster says that I might have to relearn their entire current syllabus." 

"Nani?" came Spinel Sun's voice as he flew out of the house, hovering in the air beside Eriol. He frowned, reading the letter while perched on Nakuru's back. "Why do you have to go back, Eriol-kun? Isn't what you've learnt enough?" 

"According to Albus Dumbledore, they need me to also assist them with Sakura-chan and Li-kun. They'll be attending Hogwarts this year. Besides, I need to brush up my knowledge again," he spoke, grinning at the sight of his two guardians. 

They were evidently shocked, and their mouths could almost reach the ground. It was almost impossible to suppress a chuckle, but he forced a smile upon his face as he gazed at Nakuru and Spinel. "Besides, they said that the both of you are to enroll for their classes too." 

"NANI?!" 

Their eyes bulged in surprise as they sputtered, trying to protest. They, go to Hogwarts? 

"No, Eriol-kun," Nakuru spoke as she shook her head in protest. "I will not go back there. Just the sight of Professor Snape will have shivers crawling up my spine. Don't make me go, Eriol-kun!" 

He shrugged, gazing evenly at the both of them with the slightest hint of a smile on his lips. "All of us are expected to be in Hogwarts by the day after tomorrow. I take it that you're going to start packing your bags?" 

Spinel tried to put on his most miserable and pathetic look, but it only bore a wide grin from his master. "No excuses, Spinel. We'll be taking the Knight Bus tomorrow morning to Diagon Alley. You have to be ready by then. Understood?" 

The both of them sighed in defeat, knowing that they could never succeed in disobeying their master. He was, after all, the most powerful of them all. Besides, if he gave an order, it was expected to be carried out. 

"Hai, Eriol-kun. Wakata." 

"Oh, and Nakuru?" Eriol spoke up, his blue eyes glittering somewhat. She spun around, gazing at him. "Touya-kun will be there. You mightenjoy it. But don't antagonize him, ne?" 

She grinned, nodding vigorously and began to sing a song that had something to do with Sakura's older brother. Eriol could only gaze after her with a slight smile on his face. Trust Nakuru to not think about glomping poor Touya Kinomoto   


-------

THE NEXT MORNING, IN DIAGON ALLEY 

A deep frown seemed to be embedded on Li's face as he folded his arms defiantly. He didn't want to go to England, to that Hogwarts school. He wanted to stay where he was, in Hong Kong, or better still, in Tomoeda. 

After all, he didn't know anyone here in England, with the exception of Eriol, of course. Still, Eriol was not the person that he wanted to see at this very moment. Suddenly, his amber eyes widened as he spotted a familiar face. 

Speaking of the devil himself 

Eriol was standing at the entrance of Diagon Alley, smiling at him as the bus stopped in front of the shop. It was as if he had known that Li was going to come here this morning, and had came specially to meet him. 

Li marched out of the bus with a black cloud thundering above him. Stomping to where Eriol was standing, he narrowed his eyes at the reincarnation of Clow Reed, as if challenging him to a staring competition. Sparks flew from his eyes as Eriol simply grinned at him. 

The boys stood on the their spots, Li glaring while Eriol grinned back as other Hogwarts students whizzed by, ignoring their presence as they rushed to stock up on their school books. School was to start tomorrow; there was not one minute to be wasted! 

A sudden slight hush fell over the crowd as a lanky boy with rather messy black hair that didn't cease to conceal a thin lightning scar that had somehow been etched on his forehead. Li and Eriol turned, distracted, only to be greeted by the loud silence of the normally rowdy Hogwarts students. 

The boy stopped in his tracks, looking around, as if astonished too at the sudden silence. His clear, bright green eyes that flashed behind his glasses seemed to register surprise as he spun around. There was still a great deal of talking around Flourish and Blotts, but for some reason, this boy had managed to shut them up. 

"Harry! HARRY! Over here!" 

A boy pulled himself loose from the still quiet crowd, waving madly at the boy that was supposed to be named Harry. Behind him, two identical boys came trailing in his path. Each bore identical features, with the exception that the first one was a little taller than the others. 

Li frowned, his amber eyes darkening subtlety as he gazed cautiously at Harry. Eriol, on the other hand, simply smiled secretively, flashing a brief glance at Li, whose attention had been now occupied with this boy. 

"Li-kun? Eriol-kun? What are you doing here?" a voice came up behind them, causing Li to jump while the other boy spun around. Eriol wasn't fazed as a relaxed smile rested on his lips as he spoke. 

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan," he greeted, bowing slightly in Japanese custom. Apparently, he hadn't lost any of the charm that had won her over, for she smiled ever so sweetly at him in return before fixing a curious gaze on the brown haired boy that was standing beside him. 

Li had turned crimson, his normal reaction at the sight of Sakura, causing some people around him to stare at him in wonder. Sputtering, he only managed to blurt out a feeble "Ohayo" to her before turning away, trembling slightly. 

Sakura blinked, her leaf green eyes narrowing in confusion as she gazed him. Her forehead creased as she tilted her head slightly, wondering why his face had gone all red all of a sudden. 

Touya suddenly burst from the crowd, pushing his way through the steady stream of students that were pushing to enter the shop. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Li, who had just turned around. A silence ensued between Eriol and Sakura as the both of them watched intently. 

"I didn't know that you were going to be in Hogwarts, brat," Touya sneered, raising his eyebrows amusedly as Li growled, glowering. It took all his willpower not to take out his sword and set Touya's coat on fire once more, just like the time he had when he was still in Tomoeda. 

The both of them didn't budge, glaring at each other until two shrill voices broke the tension between them. Those were familiar voices indeed, and much feared voice by both Li and Touya. 

"TOUYA-KUN!" 

"SYAORAN-KUN!" 

Two girls came running up, one with long, brown hair and light amber eyes, while the other was slightly shorter with long black hair that had been tied up with a pair of fiery ruby red eyes. They raced towards both the boys, and came up at last, panting before they attached themselves to both boys. 

Sakura watched, surprised as she recognized the two familiar girls. "Nakuru-san? Meilin-chan? What are you doing here in Diagon Alley?" 

Li frowned, trying to shake off his cousin who simply refuse to let go. "Why are you even here, Meilin-chan?" he asked, prying her off as he gritted his teeth. "You don't have magical powers!" 

The girl frowned, her red eyes narrowing and he took a step back, retreating. "The fact that I can't use magic is because I have too little," she contradicted with a huff. "According to the letter that I received, I can still enroll in Hogwarts, as I still have powers. Wakata?" 

Eriol watched as Li sighed, nodding at his cousin's words. He had a feeling that this year in Hogwarts would indeed be an enjoyable one, with such people here. Besides, it would be fairly amusing to watch the fights between Li and Touya 

Touya, on the other hand, had different thoughts. Still trying to shake off Nakuru, he glared at Li. He wasn't going to let that brat get anywhere near his sister, or else! 

"I think it's best that we get moving," Eriol beckoned Sakura, keeping an amused gaze on the scene in front of him. "We don't have much time to spend just standing around here. Oh, by the way, our wands won't work there. We'll have to buy new wands here." 

Spinel Sun, who had been hovering near Eriol, raised an eyebrow. "A wand? How am I going to handle that?" 

His master grinned, somehow unable to imagine Spinel trying to hold a wand. It would be truly comical to see the guardian wrestle with a wand, unlike Ruby Moon a.k.a. Nakuru who could handle it easily. 

"I hope we get to be in the same house, Touya-kun!" Nakuru spoke, clinging to Sakura's brother even closer as he helplessly tried to pry her off. He shot a look of helplessness at Eriol, who simply smiled. 

"Nakuru-chan, I believe I told you earlier that you were not to antagonize Touya-kun," her master directed, his blue eyes flashing with somewhat amusement at her erratic behaviour. "I presume you weren't listening, ne?" 

She pouted, untangling herself from Touya who stepped to the side. "Hai, Eriol-kun. Demo" 

"No buts." 

His voice was clear as crystal, piercing the noise in the air as she looked down, pouting like a small child. Touya, who was standing at the side, exhaled in relief before shooting a look of contempt at Li who immediately glared back, engaging in a stare-down. 

"Anoisn't it better if we get our shopping done first?" Sakura spoke up, a large sweatdrop appearing on the side of her head as she retreated to the back together with Meilin, who had a confused expression on her face. "I think it's better than just standing around" 

Her voice trailed off as she gazed around nervously at the small crowd of curious onlookers that had gathered around them to watch the fight between Li and Touya. They were obviously wondering what the fuss and noise was about, she thought as she bit her lip. 

Eriol seemed to notice her discomfort and smiled. "True, Sakura-chan. If we stand around here anymore, we might not be able to get our things. Come on, cute descendant." 

His words managed to successfully divert Li's attention from his staring contest with Touya as he turned to glare ominously at Eriol, who simply shot him a dazzling smile. 

"Very funny," the Chinese boy mumbled, frowning as he dragged himself alongside Sakura the Flourish and Blotts. His amber eyes had taken on a morose expression, and Sakura blinked. 

"Hoe? Daijobu desu ka, Li-kun?" she spoke up, attracting Touya's attention, His brownish black eyes immediately narrowed, and shot daggers at the boy that was standing in front of him at that moment. The tension thickened as Li, in turn, acknowledged the glare and spun around to face him. 

"Hey!" 

Li slammed straight into a boy and toppled over, only to be caught by Eriol's ready hands. Opening his amber eyes, the brown haired boy looked up to see Sakura and Meilin hovering above him worriedly while Eriol gently released him, his blue eyes now fixed as he helped the other person up. 

It was the brown haired boy that they had seen earlier outside the shop. His surprisingly bright green eyes behind the round rimmed glasses twinkled with gratitude as he uttered a polite "Thank you" to Eriol who simply smiled. 

Touya had fallen silent now, and was staring intently at the boy which returned Eriol's smile. He could sense the boy's aura, and was taken aback by the amount of power that it radiated from the boy. It was as if he possessed some hidden power within him 

The boy held out a hand to Li, smiling as the confused boy slowly and hesitatingly extracted a hand. His deep amber eyes reflected somewhat confusion as the boy grasped it warmly and shook it. 

"I'm Harry Potter," the boy spoke up as he smiled at Li, who stood frozen on the spot. "And you are?" 

Eriol stepped forward, noticing his descendant's frozen position on the ground, and offered a friendly smile to Harry. "I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa. They," he introduced as he waved a hand at the people beside him. "Are Li Syaoran, Sakura Kinomoto, Li Meilin, Touya Kinomoto and Nakuru Akizuki." 

Harry grinned, his green eyes twinkling from beneath his glasses. "Nice to meet all of you. Are all of you first years in Hogwarts this year?" 

This time, Sakura spoke up. "Wellnot really," she confessed with a sheepish smile. "You see, for some reason, we're supposed to join the fifth year classes, instead of starting from the first year ones" 

He raised an amazed eyebrow as he gazed around at the small group. "Well then, I guess that I'll be seeing more of you then. Have you bought your things yet?" 

-------

Sakura let out a sigh of relief as she placed the many bags beside her as she wiped off the beads of sweat that were trickling down her face. They had managed to buy what was needed for their very first year in Hogwarts, with much help from Harry and his friends which he introduced to them, Ron, Fred and George Weasley and Hermione Granger. 

Now, they were in the ice cream parlour, ordering something possibly to cool them down after an entire morning of shopping in the shops in the Diagon Alley. It had, after all, been a quite tiring morning to began with. 

Harry smiled from across the table at Eriol, who was sitting beside a glaring Li. "If I'm not wrong, you have at least one more store to go to before you've got everything," he spoke, taking a look at the list that Eriol had handed him earlier. "You'll have to stop at Ollivanders. Unless you've already got your wands?" 

Li's mouth dropped open as he gaped at the boy across the table. "Wands? What wands?" 

Eriol smiled patiently, his blue eyes flashing from behind his glasses as he clearly explained. "In Hogwarts, you are expected to have your own wands. And no, cute descendant, you're not allowed to use your sword as a wand." 

Sakura spoke up, her leaf green eyes gazing carefully at the reincarnated form of Clow Reed. "Am I allowed to use my wand, Eriol-kun? What about you? Are you using your wand?" 

He shook his head, his blue eyes gazing back at her wisely. "Iie, Sakura-chan. Since you're not allowed to use your own wands, you'll just have to buy one from Ollivanders. As for me, I already have one since I've attended Hogwarts earlier." 

Ron's eyes widened as he gazed at Eriol, listening in amazement to the boy's words. "You've been to Hogwarts, Eriol? When? I don't seem to have seen you around before" 

A small smile touched the young sorcerer's lips as he gazed out of the window, at the many people that were rushing on the streets of Diagon Alley. "I have my ways," he replied mysteriously, his blue eyes glittering. 

Touya, on the other hand, was trying his best to avoid Nakuru who had somehow, managed to squeeze in beside him and was happily hugging him. "Get off me, Nakuru," he muttered, trying futilely to loosen the guardian's iron-like grip on him. 

"Demo, Touya-kun, it's been such a long time since I've seen you!" Nakuru spoke, clinging on even harder to poor Touya, who could only sigh in defeat. How did he get caught with this girl? 

Spinel, who at that moment, popped his head out of the bag that Nakuru had been carrying, inhaling the fresh air. Apparently, being stuck in Nakuru's bag wasn't very comfortable, as she usually liked to squeeze in beside Touya. 

Hermione gazed at the small guardian, her eyes widening as she pointed at Spinel. "Nakuru, what is that?" 

Eriol raised an amused eyebrow, trying not to laugh as he watched Nakuru look over at Spinel and stuff him into the bag that very instant. "Spinel! I thought I told you to stay in there!" she scolded, her brown eyes frowning at the small sun guardian that immediately clawed its way to the top. 

"I have no thoughts about staying in your bag any longer," Spinel spoke, pulling itself out of the stuffy bag before hovering to rest on Eriol's right shoulder. "Besides, I would have died of suffocation if I hadn't gotten out!" 

Harry gazed with surprise at the small cat-like creature that was now sitting on an amused Eriol's shoulder. "Truly, Eriol. What is that?" 

Eriol grinned, his blue eyes flashing with controlled laughter as he chuckled slightly. "This is Spinel Sun, my sun guardian. Where as Nakuru," he gazed at Nakuru who had gone back to glomping poor Touya, "Is my moon guardian. It's a rather difficult and long process to explain actually. Anyway, Spinel's attending Hogwarts with us." 

"Actually, I do know about sun and moon guardians," Hermione spoke up as she gazed intently at Spinel. "According to what I've read, sun guardians have the powers that are under the elements of earth and fire while moon guardians are under" 

"Do any of you play Quidditch?" Ron cut in, ignoring Hermione's long explanation of how sun and moon guardians came to be. "Harry's a great Seeker for Gryffindor! He won us the cup last year!" 

Li turned to gaze confusedly at Sakura for a spilt second, not understanding what Ron was talking about. "Quidditch? What's that?" 

Patting Spinel, Eriol could only smile at his descendant as he spoke. "Quidditch is the sport that they play at Hogwarts. Instead of having sports such as football and hockey, they play Quidditch, which is actually a mixture of both sports. The only difference of it is that it is played in the air instead of on the ground, cute descendant." 

Sakura blinked, her leaf green eyes blinking as she scraped the bottom of her sundae. "In the air? And how do we do that?" 

Harry smiled, understanding how she felt as he had too, once been in the same situation as she had been when he was new. "We use broomsticks," he explained patiently, shooting a smile at her. 

"Hoe? Broomsticks?" 

Nakuru grinned at Sakura as she threw her arms around her brother. "You'll have to buy one, Sakura-chan. It functions something like the Clow wand when you use The Fly card. You can easily order it through owl post." 

The girl sweatdropped, gazing helplessly at everyone around her as she shrugged. "I'm afraid that you'll have to explain everything to me," she confessed, blushing slightly. "After all, I'm new at these things." 

Hermione smiled, standing up. "I don't see why we wouldn't help you with things, Sakura," she spoke. "All finished with your ice creams? Let's head over to Ollivanders, shall we?" 

-------

Li fell onto the soft bed, closing his eyes as he let his exhaustion wash over him. He had never felt ever so tired in one day before; not even when he had been training back in Hong Kong. 

They had bought their wands from Ollivanders, each of them receiving an equally strange one. He himself had received one made of dragon whisker and birch wood while Sakura had one that was made out of unicorn hair and oak. Meilin however, he reflected with a frown, had received a most extraordinary wand, made of phoenix feather and willow bark. 

Opening his eyes, he gazed around at the room, taking in all its features. It had been difficult to obtain a room in the Leaky Cauldron at first, as it seemed to be full, but they had managed to get a room each at last. Sleeping seemed almost unnecessary as he leaned back, staring at the ceiling. 

How had things managed to end up like this? It seemed all like a dream now, from when his mother had told him that he had to go to Tomoeda to capture the released Clow cards until now, when he was lying in a bed in the Leaky Cauldron. Things had, indeed certainly changed. 

He couldn't sleep, he decided stoutly, as he tried to fight the tiredness that flowed within him. He wanted to see how it was in the morning when they could finally depart to Hogwarts via train from what Harry had said as 'Platform Nine and Three Quarters'. 

Yet, as the night grew further, his lids began to close onto his dark amber eyes, bringing him to a world of dreams   


Author's note:- 

Well, my first Cardcaptor Sakura and Harry Potter crossover ^_^. What do you think? If you don't like it, I can always stop writing this fanfic ^_~. Anyway, I haven't quite decided the story line for this fanfic yet, so I'll drag it along a little. Gomen ne! Anyway, please review and tell me what you think and whether I should continue this story. Domo Arigato! 

Japanese words:- 

Nanda- What is it? 

Ohayo- The informal version of 'Ohayo Gozaimasu' which nevertheless, means good morning. 

Kaasan- Mother 

Ne- Has two meanings. One is like 'Hey' as in "Ne, Li-kun!". The other is to ask if the person's opinion as in "You don't really expect me to go, ne?" 

Nani- What? 

Hai- Yes 

Wakata- I understand 

Ano- A Japanese version for the words 'um' and 'uh' 

Daijobu desu ka- Are you all right? 

Iie- No 

Demo- But 

Gomen ne- Another informal expression from the phrase 'Gomen nasai' which means 'sorry'. 

Domo arigato- Thank you! 

-chan - Honorific for someone of status lower to yourself, and term of endearment for family and friends. Used mostly for females and is very informal. Is to be add at the end of the name 

-kun - Mr (junior), master, boy. Similar to chan, but mostly applied to males. Is to be add at the end of the name.   



	2. Off to Hogwarts!

The first rays of sunlight stole its way into the room, lighting up the once dark room with its golden light as it danced into each dark crack and crevice. Outside, the hustle and bustle had already begun, and people could be seen rushing everywhere. 

It was more than enough to awaken the occupant of this room, making her turn over in frustration before sitting up, rubbing the sleep out of her light, amber brown eyes. Stifling a yawn, she drew the curtains a little, peeking out at the din outside. So, it was morning already. 

"Glad to see you're up, Nakuru," a voice spoke shortly, cutting her train of thoughts. She spun around, only to see a tiny, cat-like creature hovering in the air with a small smirk on its face. Landing on the rumpled sheets on the bed, it looked up at her as she grinned at it. 

"Oh, and why wouldn't I be, Spinel?" she inquired mockingly, her eyes glinting as she reached into her bag for a set of clean clothes that she had packed earlier. "Were you expecting me to be late and miss the train? If you were, you're going to be deeply disappointed." 

Spinel snorted, half floating out of the slightly ajar door. "I don't have the energy to argue with you at this time in the morning," the small guardian muttered, half to itself. "Anyway, the master's been awake for a long time already. Unlike you, that is..." 

She raised an arm and threw a pillow, that was neatly dodged by the sleek guardian. It smirked at her, watching as the pillow hit the door. "Nice try, Nakuru. Better luck next time." 

She raised an annoyed eyebrow at its retreating back, and stuck a tongue out. Sun guardians! How could anyone stand them?  


-------   


It was a very bumpy journey to King's Cross Station, as the Knight Bus seemed to go over some rather nasty bumps in the road, nearly throwing poor Sakura off her seat in fright. Trembling, she hung on to a pole for her dear life while keeping her green eyes tightly shut. 

The other people didn't seem to notice this, though, as they were busy chattering away. Hogwarts students had crowded the bus itself, filling it until there was not even a seat left in the entire magical vehicle. They were huddled in many groups, discussing what they had done during their Easter holidays. 

It was not long after that did the Knight Bus screech to a stop in front of the King's Cross Station. Students poured out, running in all directions, but Li noticed that they were headed to just one destination: the platform between Platform Nine and Platform Ten. 

Eriol smiled, his eyes watching as he watched Sakura glance doubtfully at the crowd. Evidently, she didn't know if they were to follow them, for she didn't see the Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, as stated in their train tickets. Of course, he reflected with a slight twitch on his mouth as he suppressed a chuckle. They didn't know anything yet. They were new. 

"Come on," he spoke briskly, his tone suddenly changing from his normal, patient tone to a slightly impatient one as he steered them towards the crowd. There wasn't much time to spare; the train was leaving in ten minutes and they hadn't even settled in yet. The small group followed obediently, trailing behind him until they arrived in front of a seemingly solid barrier. 

Touya stared at it, before turning to gaze at Eriol. "We have to go through _that_? Are you crazy?" 

The reincarnation of Clow Reed simply raised an amused eyebrow as he watched a family walk past them, listening to snatches of their conversation. 

"...Muggles don't notice a thing..." 

Li was still frowning at his reincarnated ancestor as he tapped a foot impatiently while he glared daggers at him. "Well?" he demanded, his amber eyes flashing as he waited for a response from Eriol. 

"Just watch," he spoke, not taking his eyes off the family. They leaned onto the barrier, and Sakura half closed her eyes, quite certain that they would fall. Why were they even doing that, in the first place? 

She looked up, and blinked, when she noticed that the family had somehow- disappeared. Glancing around, she couldn't see the family that had hurried past them in any direction. Where had they gone? 

"Follow me," Eriol spoke, his voice strict, and just like the first time, they watched him mutely, as he leaned onto the barrier, and promptly vanished, as if he'd never been there before. There was a deafening silence as they stared, gazing at the spot where he had stood two seconds ago. 

Nakuru was the first to break the silence as she danced in front with a wide grin. "Come on!" she spoke, winking at Sakura while she pulled Touya. "It doesn't hurt! All you have to do is to go through the barrier..." 

With that, she pulled Touya and ran towards the barrier, ignoring his desperate squirms to escape from her firm grip as they neared the seemingly solid barrier. Then, they vanished, just like Eriol. 

Li, Sakura and Meilin were left, staring at the barrier doubtfully. Eriol, Touya and Nakuru had already gone through it; dare they go in too? 

Finally, Li spoke up, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke. "I think we should give it a try. After all, your brother can't just disappear through a wall, Sakura-chan." 

Sakura nodded, her leaf green eyes gazing carefully at the barrier as they took a few steps to the front, then breaking into a run. She closed her eyes as they reached the barrier, ready to feel the soaring pain would spread through her when she hit the wall. 

They were nearing the barrier now, and there wasnothing. 

She opened her eyes in shock, only to find herself below a sign that had the words "Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock". A scarlet steam engine stood waiting next to the platform, which, evidently, was Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Meanwhile, a crowd of people seemed to be fighting their way into the train. 

Eriol, Nakuru and Touya were standing in a corner, away from the crowds, waiting for them. Eriol nodded, his blue eyes flashing as a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. 

"It's best we get on the train, he spoke, glancing briefly at his wrist watch that he was wearing on his right hand. "The train leaves in five minutes- doesn't leave us much time to find seats. Come on." 

They made their way into the crowd, weaving in and out and between people. Mothers were saying goodbye to their children, some crying and some waving and calling out something. Students clambered into the carriages, searching desperately for empty seats. 

Finally, they found an empty compartment, and the entire group clambered up, bringing their luggage with them. Sakura needed some help with her baggage, though, and Li and Eriol had to help her drag the bag onboard with a little help from Touya. 

"Arigato," she spoke, her face turning slightly pink as she watched as they finally managed to lift the bag onto the train. Li simply grunted, turning away as his face coloured furiously, making Touya glare at him while trying to shake Nakuru off, and Eriol, as usual, shot a smile at her. 

They had just settled down, a little cramped as Touya didn't want to sit too close to Li, when the whistle sounded, warning students that the train was about to depart. The last students scurried onto the train hurriedly, taking their seats while some ran around the corridors, searching for an empty space. 

Sakura clapped her hands together excitedly, a smile lighting up her face as she gazed out of the window. They were already gaining speed as they rounded a corner, as houses flashed past. Sometimes, she caught a glimpse of some children playing as they flew past the fields, but they seemed to be oblivious of the fact that there was a train right in front of them. 

Li, on the other hand, was watching her carefully from the corner of his eye. An odd feeling of déjà vu seemed to sweep through him as he bit his lip, trying to sort out the torrent of emotions that were inside him. He didn't understand these feelings, yet 

It was then that he caught sight of the death glare that Touya had shot at him. Sakura's elder brother had evidently noticed him goggling at his sister- and he didn't like it. 

"Stay away from my sister, KID," he growled, his eyes narrowing as he clenched his fists, ready for a fight. Li could feel himself stiffen as he glared back at the older boy and seemed to breathe fire as he gritted his teeth. 

Meilin, who sensed that a vicious fight was slowly brewing, immediately nudged Sakura, who turned, half distracted as she had been enjoying the wonderful panorama of London. She didn't want then to be in trouble even before they had arrived at school! 

Sakura's eyes widened as she caught sight of Touya and Li, both tense as they glared at each other, daring the other to make the slightest move. They couldn't fight now! 

It was then that the door of the compartment slid open, distracting both boys from their fight. Their heads whipped around, as they turned to gaze at the door in unison. 

"You!" 

The boy took a step back in shock, his eyes wide as he held out his hands for defense. His green eyes stared back at them as they blinked. "It's only me, Harry. I heard some yelling in here, so I came to check it out. Am Iinterrupting something?" 

His gaze rested on Li and Touya as their faces turned crimson, and they looked down, mumbling something under their breath. 

"No, not at all, Harry," Eriol spoke up, his blue eyes glittering as he watched Sakura give his descendant a curious look. "We were justdiscussing something. Why don't you sit down?" 

"There's lots of space," Sakura added in quickly, knowing that if Harry were to stay, Touya and Li would probably behave themselves. "We won't mind, right, boys?" 

"No, of course not" was the only thing that she managed to catch when the both of them mumbled something almost inaudible. Raising her eyes, she gazed at Harry pleadingly. 

Harry laughed, his bright green eyes twinkling as he grinned at her. He didn't see any reason why not to stay- Hermione was up front studying her new books while Ron was with Fred and George anyway. 

"Well, I guess that it won't hurt if I were to stay for a while, Sakura," he spoke, acknowledging her pleading look by promptly taking a seat beside her. "So, how was your night at the Leaky Cauldron?" 

"Perfect," Nakuru replied with a wink as she loosened her grip on Touya, who immediately proceeded to squirm free. It was futile, however, as Nakuru tightened her grip again. "I don't think I've ever slept that soundly ever before." 

It was at this moment that Spinel once again wriggled free from her bag, gasping for air. "Yeah," it spoke, narrowing its eyes at Nakuru. "You were sleeping so soundly that you wouldn't know if I threw something at you." 

"Spinel!" she screeched, now letting go of Touya as she tried in vain to catch the small sun guardian. "You come back here! I'm going to get you for that!" 

Sakura watched as the Nakuru tried her best to grab Spinel, who simply, every time, floated out of reach. She sighed, turning to Eriol as she sweatdropped. 

"Can I change into my true form?" Nakuru asked at last, not taking her eyes off Spinel, who was hovering somewhere near the ceiling. 

"No. Nakuru, stop that," the young sorcerer commanded with a hint of authority in his voice. "Spinel, come down from there. You can't hover near the roof throughout the entire journey. Nakuru, SIT DOWN." 

His moon guardian pouted, as she returned to her seat. Spinel, on the other hand, was looking at her triumphantly as it floated down to land on the empty space beside Harry. 

"Don't you mind her," it told Harry, who simply stared at it in surprise. "She's always like that. Can't keep quiet for less than a minute." 

"Spinel! That's a lie!" Nakuru shot back, rising from her seat as she glared at Spinel. "Wait till I feed you sweet things! You'll see then!" 

"Nakuru, sit down. Now." There was a note of annoyance in Eriol's voice as he gazed evenly at Nakuru who gazed pleadingly back at him. 

"Demo" 

"I said now, Nakuru," he spoke in his clear, crisp voice, keeping a sharp eye on Spinel. "As for you, Spinel, come over here. I don't want you irritating Nakuru. Understood?" 

"Hai," Spinel spoke, frowning as it slowly hovered across the compartment, landing on Eriol's shoulder. "I'm sorry, master. I shouldn't have done that. I apologize." 

Harry raised an eyebrow as he gazed at Eriol, who simply smiled back at him. "Wow. They're really obedient to you." 

Sakura couldn't resist. "That's because he has control over them," she chimed in, shooting Li a smile. He turned red in the face, and turned away, drawing some snarls from Touya who sat, shooting death glares at him. "Right, Li-kun?" 

"H...hai." 

Eriol smiled, watching Li's face turn into a deeper shade of red as he realized that Harry was also watching him curiously. "Thank you, cute descendant. Unfortunately, these two CAN get out of hand sometimes" 

Meilin, who had been quiet so far, spoke up. "By the way, Harry, tell us about Hogwarts. How's it like there?" 

He smiled at her, his green eyes gazing deep into her fiery ruby red ones until she turned away in a mild blush. 

"It's fun at Hogwarts," he replied, gazing off into space. "There're lots of things you can do there, and there are always feasts on Christmas and Halloween. The teachers are bearable, and I doubt you'll run into much trouble if you obey the rules. You'll enjoy it, Meilin." 

The door to the compartment slid open once more, and the group turned once more. It wasn't Ron or Hermione; instead, it was a pale boy with a pointed face. Beside his were two boys, each as mean looking as the other. 

"So, Harry Potter," the boy sniggered, turning his nose slightly at the boy. "Mixing with the first years? Doesn't seem much like you. Perhaps you've decided that we're too MATURE for you?" 

Harry's mouth immediately tightened as he glared back at the boy. His green eyes flashed dangerously as he stood up to face the boy who simply smirked. 

"If I were you, Malfoy, I'd get out of here. Now." 

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, gazing at Harry evenly as he smirked. "Oh, and why should I? Was I disturbing your baby talk with these first years?" 

"Perhaps not," Eriol spoke up, and Malfoy suddenly found himself hovering in the air. Turning in horror, it was then that he noticed that Eriol was using the Clow wand on him. "Now, I think it's best if you leave us alone." 

The two boys that were with Malfoy earlier retreated some way, staring at Malfoy who was hovering as he swung his fists at a smiling Eriol. 

"Let me down! McGonagall will hear about this, Potter! You'll get detention for a month!" 

Harry turned to Eriol and winked, and Malfoy was slowly let down until he levitated himself and his feet touched the ground. He was still trembling with rage and fear as he motioned for the two boys to follow him. 

"Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. I'm not sticking around with any more babies." 

Harry watched amusedly as they fled down the corridor before turning to Eriol, who already was sitting down. "Thanks, Eriol. How'd you learn such magic like that?" 

The young reincarnation of Clow Reed simply smiled, his dark blue eyes brewing some dark secret. "I told you, I have my ways. Let's not discuss that anymore, shall we? It's almost lunch." 

True to his word, there was a loud clattering of a cart from outside the corridor. A smiling woman slid open their door once more, and gazed at them. "Anything off the cart, dears?" 

Harry and Li leapt to their feet and scurried out into the corridor. Sakura, on the other hand, had brought her own lunch and was offering everyone some just as the boys came back, holding piles of candy in their hands. 

"Harry, can you give me one of those Chocolate Frogs?" Nakuru spoke slyly, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Spinel. "I think Spinel would enjoy one, wouldn't you, Spinel?" 

"Nakuru." Eriol's tone was a warning and she sat down, pouting. 

"Just one, Harry? Please? I haven't eaten even one candy the entire morning." 

The boy laughed, handing her a Chocolate Frog from his pile as he grinned at her. "It's okay, Eriol. I've got plenty, anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to share. By the way, Sakura, what are those?" 

He was staring at the sushi that she had neatly packed into neat boxes and was handing some to Li. Beside the sushi were a pile of sandwiches, all neatly made up. 

"These?" she asked, looking down as her eyes clouded with mild confusion. "Oh these! These are sushi, a type of food that we eat in Japan. It's made of fish, if you want to know." 

"By the way, Sakura-chan," Li spoke up, as he swallowed the last of the salmon sushi in his mouth. "How did you manage to keep these sushi so fresh?" 

She smiled sweetly at him, her leaf green eyes crinkling up as she offered him another. "Oh, otousan cast a spell over it so that it'll stay fresh," she replied, watching as Eriol nodded approvingly as he tried one. "II made it myself. Here, have one, Harry." 

The boy took one curiously and carefully nibbled a little off the end. His eyes cleared as he smiled, before popping the rest of it into his mouth. 

"It's delicious, Sakura. You really do have a knack for cooking," he praised, shooting her a warm smile. Sakura turned red in embarrassment and looked away. Li, on the other hand, was beginning to glare at Harry, a slight suspicion forming in his mind. 

"I've got Merlin!" Nakuru suddenly sang out as she waved a card around for everyone to see, half dancing in the compartment. Spinel immediately darted away, casting a wary eye at her direction. 

"Relax, Spinel," Eriol spoke as a small smile touched the ends of his lips as Nakuru sat down, munching on her chocolate. "Nakuru won't hurt anyone as long as she's busy." 

"That's true," Touya agreed as he massaged his neck where Nakuru had hung on for close to an hour. "You're right about that one, Eriol. Why don't you just feed her candy all year long?" 

"Touya!" Nakuru protested as she threw her arms around his neck once more, making him groan again. "Don't say that! Even if I were to eat that much candy, I'd still hold on to you!" 

Eriol chuckled, his dark blue eyes twinkling as he gazed at Nakuru. "Maybe I shall. I think Nakuru should enjoy that. Wouldn't you, Nakuru?" 

"Hai! Of course!" Nakuru answered, looking up from the Chocolate Frog that was already half eaten as she tightened her grip on Touya's neck. "Can I have one of those sushi, Sakura? They look delicious!" 

Harry laughed good-naturedly as he bit into a pumpkin pasty. He had to admit that they were an amusing lot, although he had just met them a day ago. They were definitely going to have some fun in Hogwarts! 

The door slid open again, this time to reveal Hermione and Ron who grinned at the sight of the small group. 

"Harry! We've been looking all over for you!" 

He looked up with slight confusion clouding his bright green eyes. "I thought I told you that I was going to look for them, Hermione," he replied, motioning them to sit down beside him. "Must tell you, though, Sakura's a great cook." 

The brown haired girl blushed crimson as she shook her head violently. "I'm not that good a cook," she protested as the both of them gazed at her curiously. "I learnt it all from my father. That's all." 

"All the same, I do agree with him, Sakura-chan," Eriol spoke approvingly as he accepted a cake from Harry. "Your cooking has always been as good. Don't you agree, cute descendant?" 

Li looked up, meeting Eriol's twinkling dark blue eyes, before looking down again. His amber eyes darted to Sakura, who was watching him curiously, and his face turned dark red. 

"OOf course," he mumbled, ignoring the wondrous look Meilin was shooting at him that moment. It was bad enough that Sakura was keeping her eyes on him, now Meilin had to follow suit too! He groaned inwardly. 

Harry grinned as he held up a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "Anyone want to try?" he inquired, glancing around the room questioningly. "Must warn you, though, these things come in various flavours. And I mean VARIOUS flavours." 

"I'll have one," Ron volunteered as he carefully selected a dark green bean. Cautiously biting the end off the bean, he made a face as he swallowed it. 

"Broccoli," he managed to wheeze out in the middle of a coughing fit. Li looked mildly interested, and volunteered to try one of the beans in the pack. He, in turn, carefully picked out a chocolate coloured bean from the bag and popped it into his mouth, only to grimace at the taste of it. 

"What is it, Li?" Sakura asked, alarmed at the sight of the expression he had on his face. 

"Mud," he choked out, immediately taking a bite of his now opened Chocolate Frog. He hadn't thought that Harry had been serious when he said that they came in 'various flavours', but evidently, it was true. 

"See? I told you," Harry spoke, as if reading his mind as he peered into the pack. "There are some decent flavours, like strawberry and peppermint, but you'll have to be careful of the others." 

Eriol chuckled as he extracted a pink one from the bag and took a bite out of it. "Vanilla," he announced with a smile, and Li scowled at him angrily. 

"You already knew which one you wanted to take," he accused, his dark amber eyes flashing furiously. "Of course you wouldn't end up with one like mine!" 

Eriol, in turn, simply smiled. Sakura immediately came to his defense, her eyes gazing straight at Li. "Li-kun, don't say that to Eriol-kun! He was simply trying to be nice!" 

The boy simply muttered something under his breath about reincarnations. 

The panorama had become tidier, now that they were out of London. Wide, green fields seemed to fly past as the train sped over the grounds. There were a few cows here and there and a rare house, but otherwise, it was mostly the countryside. 

Hermione looked out of the window in the midst of all the chattering. Now, the green fields had given way to thick, dark forests with winding streams. Sunlight only filtered through the leaves, leaving the train much in the shadows. 

"Oh yes, I do believe we've forgotten to fill you in on Peeves," Ron spoke up, his face darkening at the mention of the name. "He's an irritating poltergeist- only listens to the Bloody Baron, Slytherin's resident ghost. You should keep an eye out for him- he's always up to tricks." 

"There are ghosts in Hogwarts?" Sakura asked, trembling slightly. Her green eyes held only one emotion now- fear, and Harry patted her hand, feeling slightly sympathetic for her. 

"Don't worry," he spoke, winking at her. "Not all ghosts are bad. Our resident ghost isn't that bad- he's Sir Nicholas de Mimsy, or rather known as Nearly Headless Nick." 

Sakura looked as if she was about to faint. 

"Don't you worry, Sakura-chan," Eriol added in quickly, seeing how pale her face was. "The ghosts are harmless- except Peeves of course. You'll just have to keep an eye out for those jokes of his." 

"I think we'd better change into our robes," Hermione spoke up, tearing her eyes away from the window. "We're almost there- should be arriving at Hogwarts soon." 

Harry nodded, acknowledging this fact as he beckoned the boys to follow him. "Come on," he spoke, sliding the door to the compartment open. "We'd better go change in another compartment. We'll let the girls have some peace here." 

Quietly, they filed out, including Spinel. Touya shut the door after him, thus blocking Nakuru from following them out. The girls exchanged nods, and pulled their sweaters off. Reaching for their black robes, each of them was engulfed in their own task of changing. 

Ten minutes after that, there was a timid knock on the door. Hermione took one look around, glancing silently at each girl and nodding before calling out "Come in.". 

One by one, the boys entered silently, each dressed in their plain black robes. Li fidgeted with his, feeling slightly uncomfortable with his clothes, only to draw a knowing smile from Eriol. 

It was getting dark outside. The sun had set in the far horizon, leaving the forest and the faraway mountains to be cast into dark, mysterious shadows. The train was indeed, slowing down- a signal that they were nearing the school. 

A voice suddenly echoed through the train, making Sakura jump slightly. 

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." 

They nodded silently, Sakura giving out a soft whimper as they slowly filed out of the compartment, to join the jostling crowd in the corridor. The train itself finally slowed down, and came to a stop. 

The doors swished open, and immediately, the pushing began. People were thronging their way to the tiny platform, which at once, seemed to overflow with people. Meilin shivered as the cold air hit her skin, only to get a reassuring pat on the shoulders by a smiling Harry. Suddenly, a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and a gruff voice called out. 

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" 

Eriol smiled, beckoning a doubtful Li and Sakura to follow him. "It's okay," he managed to shout over the din. "It's just Hagrid. Come on, we'll join Harry and the others later!" 

They pushed through the crowd, joining the jostling line of first years. Hagrid's face appeared over the sea of heads, smiling as he called out. "C'mon, follow me! Are all the firs' years here? Mind yer step now!" 

Sakura managed to look back, only to see Harry's face amid the many students. "Don't worry!" he called out, his voice almost drowned out by the monstrous racket that the students were making. "Just follow Hagrid and BE CAREFUL!"   


Author's note:- 

Well, well, the second part's finished *grins * \^o^/. What do you think? Had to refer in the Harry Potter books for quite many things, I'm not really familiar about things ^_^;;. Sorry if some of the characters are a little out of character; I told you I was new at this sort of thing! Anyway, do review and tell me what you think! The next chapter will be about the Sorting, so all of you can look forward to the Sorting Hat. What houses will they be in? Ahyou'll just have to wait and see ^_~ ! Until then, ja ne until the next chapter! Domo Arigato!   


Japanese words:- 

Arigato - The informal version of "Arigato Gozaimashta" or "Arigato Gozaimasu" which nevertheless, means 'thank you'. 

Hai - Yes 

Demo - But 

Otousan - Father 

Ja ne - Goodbye, or "Sayonara". 

Domo Arigato - This phrase also means "Thank you" 

-chan - Honorific for someone of status lower to yourself, and term of endearment for family and friends. Used mostly for females and is very informal. Is to be add at the end of the name 

-kun - Mr (junior), master, boy. Similar to chan, but mostly applied to males. Is to be add at the end of the name.   



	3. The Sorting

The chilly wind blew around the small line of students that were stumbling down a slippery path, trying to keep their balance as they followed Hagrid's huge lantern that seemed to shine the way ahead. They shivered, but nevertheless, kept up the pace, while a few of them slipped a few times. 

Sakura herself was shivering, and wrapped her robes more tightly around her, hoping to find even the slightest bit of warmth as she tramped down the path, with Eriol beside her while Li and Touya followed her quietly, shooting glares at each other. Li, though, had the upper hand as Nakuru was still hanging on to Touya's neck. 

"Nakuru," Sakura heard her brother hiss as he tried his best not to slip off the path. His brownish black eyes were flashing angrily at her as she clung on even harder to him. "Let go of me. And I mean NOW." 

"No, Touya-kun! I've waited for you for one year already; can't you at least give me the chance to stick close to you? Besides, you've nothing to worry about" 

A few students cast curious looks at them, watching with much interest as Touya tried to pry Nakuru off, but failed miserably. Sakura sweatdropped, watching as more and more curious eyes were focused on the pair. 

"AnoEriol-kun, can you do something about Nakuru-san? I don't think oniichan is enjoying the attention," she whispered, making him raise an amused eyebrow at their direction. 

A small smile formed on the corners of his lips, which twitched as he stifled a chuckle. Sakura was right; Nakuru was glomping Touya as if the world was about to end tomorrow. He had to sympathize with Touya, anyway, as he was Sakura's brother 

"Nakuru, stop antagonizing Touya," he spoke, his voice ringing clear through the night. A few curious onlookers stopped to watch what would happen, but had to continue moving as they were jostled down further onto the path. "NAKURU." 

She frowned, releasing Touya as a pout immediately appeared on her face. Touya, on the other hand, was more than glad to have her strong grip off his neck for once since the beginning of the day and gave a sigh of relief. Mumbling an almost inaudible "Thanks" to the young sorcerer who was walking in front of him, he went back to glaring at Li, who glared back hotly. 

Sakura, unfortunately, had some problems to herself, though. The darkness of this road seemed to create frightening hallucinations in her mind - was that a skulking figure she saw on her right? -and just to be safe, she inched closer to Eriol, who could only, as usual, smile. 

"Don't worry," he told her, putting on his most comforting smile as he noticed the expression on her face. "There're no ghosts out here- at least, not yet. It's just the trees- I think. It'll be fine." 

She nodded, wishing somehow that she could have such courage as he had, and that she wasn't so afraid of ghosts and whatnots. Still, she kept close to him, just in case something was to suddenly leap out at her. There was some sense in keeping safe, wasn't there? 

Furthermore, it was abnormally and eerily quiet here, compared to the din back at the platform. The only thing that she could hear while walking down this path was the faintest of whispers and the loud cricket chirps that seemed to echo through the night. 

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts jus' round this bend here," Hagrid's voice suddenly boomed out in the darkness, making her jump. A murmur swept through the crowd as they kept their eyes trained on the bend, not wanting to miss this memorable moment. 

At that very moment, she almost slipped, only to be caught by a very worried looking Li, who seemed to linger over her longer than necessary. This made Touya snarl, his eyes flashing furiously at the boy. 

"Watch it, brat," he growled under his breath as he clenched his fists tightly as they rounded the corner, one by one. "One step closer to my sister, and I promise you, you'll be dead meat. Got that?" 

Li was about to retort, but was stunned when he realized where they were. They were now standing on the shore of a large, black lake, and on the other side of the lake- was Hogwarts, the school that they had heard so much about. 

Perched on top of a high mountain on the other side of the lake, was a gigantic castle with many towers and turrets. Each of the towers had windows that sparkled like the stars in the night sky, as light shone through them. It was indeed, a most magnificent sight to behold. 

The mere sight of Hogwarts enchanted Sakura herself, as the school seemed to project some type of strong power from its very depths. In fact, the castle was an astounding sight, surrounded by millions of shining stars that twinkled up in the dark night sky. 

"Wow," she whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from the castle. The sight of the school was just like one out of those old storybooks- it looked simply magical and indeed, very legendary. "Eriol-kun, is _that _Hogwarts?" 

He smiled, nodding as he felt a sense of pride welling up in him. He was proud- and not afraid to admit it- that he had once schooled in Hogwarts, the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the entire world. After all, it wasn't every day that you could be accepted in Hogwarts. 

It was then that he caught sight of Li's mouth that was hanging wide open, and he chuckled silently to himself. It seemed as if Li himself was taken in by the mere sight of Hogwarts, he reflected, hiding a knowing smile as he turned his attention to the lake that stretched in front of them. 

A fleet of small boats stood waiting near the sandbar while they bobbed on the surface of the water, lined up neatly. They seemed indeed very small, but Eriol knew that these boats, like everything else in Hogwarts, were enchanted by magic. 

"No more 'n four in a boat!" Hagrid called out, climbing into one of these small boats which creaked under his weight, but nevertheless, remained steady as he watched the students clamber into the other boats. 

Eriol himself took a boat together with Li, Sakura and Meilin while Touya, unfortunately got stuck in the same boat as Nakuru, who latched onto him as tightly as she could, despite the curious stares that she drew from the two other students that had climbed into their boat. 

"Nakuru," he hissed, turning crimson both from the lack of oxygen and embarrassment as he tried his best to free himself. "Let go of me. And I mean RIGHT NOW." 

Miraculously, he managed to extract one of her arms from his neck, but she simply clamped it around his already stiff neck and shook her head, not wanting to let go. He sighed in defeat, throwing a look of helplessness at Eriol, who had been watching the scene with much interest. It was to his luck that the young reincarnation of Clow Reed decided to take pity towards his plight. 

"Nakuru," he warned as he rested his piercing, dark blue gaze on her, giving her a warning look. Immediately, his moon guardian released Sakura's brother, and almost pushed him overboard. 

Touya leaned back slightly, somehow wishing that he had got into another boat. He would have more than gladly endured many curious stares than actually face Nakuru, especially when she was so hyper. 

"Everyone in?" Hagrid called out, as he squinted in the darkness to see if everyone was in a boat already. "Right then- FORWARD!" 

At his order, the boats glided smoothly over the lake. There was no noise except the swishing of the water against the boats' sides as everyone was too busy looking up at the castle that seemed to tower over them a they neared it by every second. 

"Heads down!" Hagrid called out, seeing that the first boats had almost reached the cliff. Everyone ducked as they sailed through a thick curtain of ivy that hid an opening in the cliff. Next came a dark tunnel, where there was nothing but extreme darkness, causing Sakura to let out a soft whimper of fear, only to be comforted by a few well-whispered words from Eriol 

Finally, the boats stopped at what seemed like a small harbour, and the students scrambled out, some of their faces green as they were seasick. Hagrid was checking the boats, inspecting if the students in the boats had left anything behind. 

The inspection didn't take long; the students soon found themselves clambering up a passageway in the rock with Hagrid's lamp as a guide that led to the soft, damp grass right in the dark shadow of the castle. 

From there, they marched up a flight of stone steps and crowded in front of the huge, oak door that seemed to be the front door leading into Hogwarts. 

"Everyone 'ere?" 

Hagrid raised a large fist and knocked three times on the castle door. 

The door immediately swung open, and Sakura shrunk behind Eriol when she saw a tall, stern faced witch standing there. Her face was stern and for some reason, that seemed to frighten Sakura. She was dressed in an emerald green cloak, and Eriol smiled to himself. It was, of course, no other than Professor McGonagall, their deputy headmistress who had sent the letter to them. 

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid was saying to her as she nodded. 

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here." 

She pulled the door open, and the entire group of first years scrambled into the hall. Sakura gasped, looking around at the vast hall. Why, this was easily the biggest place she had ever seen in her life! It even seemed bigger than Tomoyo's house back in Tomoeda! 

Flaming torches lit the stone walls, casting long shadows on the ground. For some reason, the ceiling was too high to make out, Sakura noticed as she craned her neck, trying to make out now high it was. Facing them was a magnificent marble staircase that led to the floors upstairs. 

Slowly and silently, they trailed after Professor McGonagall, their shoes squeaking on the rough, stone floor. A few whispers darted here and there, but overall, the students remained quiet as they made their way across the floor. 

A doorway leading to a room on their right seemed to be overwhelmed by the amount of noise inside the room. Li's first guess at that moment was that it was the Great Hall that Harry and Ron had told them about while they were on the train. Judging by the noise level, however, he would've said that the entire school (except the first years, of course), was already in the hall. 

Instead of bringing them into the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall brought them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. There, she ushered the students in. They crowded together, some of them sweating profusely while others muttered nervously under their breath. Why were they here? Weren't they supposed to join the rest of the school in the hall? 

After seeing that the last student was in the chamber, the tall witch turned and spoke to them, her voice unwavering and her eyes gazing sharply at each and every one of them. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she began, her eyes darting to where she had heard a whisper that was quickly muffled. "This is your first year here, and you will soon join the rest of the school in the start-of-term banquet, but before that, you shall be sorted into your respective houses." 

She paused, letting her words sink in before she continued. 

"There are four houses altogether in Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. You will be sorted by your nature and behaviour, and will mix with others of your kind. Throughout your stay in Hogwarts, your houses will act as a family for you, as you are to spend most of your time in your house. You are to sleep in your house dormitory, attend classes with the rest of your house, and spend your free time in your house common room. Do you understand me so far?" 

A few murmurs of agreement swept through the crowd as they turned back instantly as the teacher cleared her throat with a sharp sound. 

At the back, a worried expression appeared on Sakura's face as she glanced around, her leaf green eyes clouded over by the anxiety that she was feeling at that very moment. 

"Does that mean that you might not be in the same house as us?" she whispered to Eriol, who nodded as a reply before turning his attention back to the tall witch in front. 

"Each and every house has its own proud and noble history, and indeed, have produced many outstanding wizards and witches throughout the years. During your stay in Hogwarts, every triumph and success will earn your house some house points. Likewise, any rule breaking and disobedience will cause points to be deducted from your house. Is that understood?" 

"At the end of the year, the house points will be summed up, and the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points. This house cup is a great honour to whichever house that receives it. I do hope that all of you shall be of some credit to your house points," she ended, fixing her hawk-like stare on the students, making some of them shift and squirm uncomfortably in their places. 

"The Sorting shall start in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I suggest that you tidy yourself while waiting," she spoke, her gaze resting on someone's untidy cloak and another student's unfastened collar. "I shall return in a few minute's time. Please wait quietly." 

With that, she left the chamber, leaving them. A sea of murmurs immediately flooded the room as the students tried desperately to tidy themselves after the long trip. There was someone smoothing their hair here, and someone fastening their cloak properly there. 

Sakura was blinking anxiously, her heart hammering in her chest as she inhaled. She hoped that she'd placed in the same house as either Eriol or Li. After all, she hardly knew anything about this school, and by what she had heard from Ron and Harry, things did seem a little scary 

Suddenly, she let out an ear piercing shriek, making everyone turn around in shock. There, floating through the door, were about twenty ghosts, assembling just behind her. She turned pale on the spot and backed away, only to bump into Eriol. 

"Eriol-kun, were _these_ the ghosts Harry was talking about?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly as she watched the ghosts talk to each other, as if they weren't there. Sweat drenched her forehead, and Eriol placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. 

"As I told you before, Sakura-chan, the ghosts here are harmless, except Peeves. There's nothing to be afraid of," he coaxed, not taking his dark blue eyes off the pearly-white and slightly transparent apparitions. After all, he did recognize some of them. 

"D." she stammered, her eyes growing wider and wider in horror by the minute. It was enough that she had heard so many ghost stories (courtesy of Naoko), now she had to run into more than twenty ghosts too! 

A ghost that had silver blood over its robes seemed to acknowledge her stare as it suddenly turned, gazing straight at her. Sakura cowered further into the crowd, bumping into some people in the process. 

"Wellnew students! About to be Sorted? Hope you get into Slytherin; the other houses are nothing compared to ours," the Bloody Baron spoke, its eyes darting to another ghost who was wearing ruffles and tights. "Especially Gryffindor." 

"My dear Baron, I do believe that you shouldn't give that sort of impression to them," Nearly Headless Nick was saying with a most disapproving look. "After all, we did win the house cup three years in a row" 

"Yes, but Slytherin DID win the house cup for six years in a row before that Potter boy came along," barked the Bloody Baron as his eyes narrowed into slits. "You mark my words: Slytherin will get the house cup this year!" 

Sakura blinked, forgetting her fright of ghosts for a moment. Had that ghost said Potter? As in Harry Potter? 

"Harry's in Gryffindor," Eriol explained, as if he could read her mind. "That ghost over there is Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, while the Bloody Baron is the Slytherin resident ghost. Don't you worry, you'll get all of this sooner or later!" 

"Of course she will," a low voice spoke from behind them, making her jump up in fright before spinning around. Behind her were three figures: one, a petite girl that was almost Sakura's height, a small cat-like animal that looked somewhat like Spinel (who had gladly wrenched himself out of Nakuru's bag), and last but not least, was a tall, frowning man with flowing silvery white hair. 

Sakura's green eyes widened in surprise as she recognized who these three figures were. The first, was nonetheless, her best friend from Tomoeda, Tomoyo, the second her sun guardian, Cerberus (or rather known as Kero) and the last was her moon guardian, Yue. 

"Newhat are you three doing here? Tomoyo-chan, you mean you have _magic_?" she sputtered. Unfortunately, this was the time when Professor McGonagall returned, so her questions were left unanswered as the tall witch clapped her hands to draw the crowd's attention. 

"Now, move along," she told the ghosts, who obediently floated through a wall, making Sakura tremble even worse, drawing more and more curious stares to her shaking form. Professor McGonagall seemed oblivious of this, though as she turned to look at the sea of faces in front of her. 

"Form a line and follow me. The Sorting is about to start." 

Sakura (who was still trembling) got into the line behind Nakuru shakily, inhaling deep breaths of air as she stared ahead mutely. This was it. She hadn't any idea of what the Sorting was about, for Harry and the others hadn't told them about it. 

"Ne, Tomoyo-chan," she whispered to the girl behind her. "What are you doing here?" 

Tomoyo herself simply smiled, giving Sakura a slight push as the line in front of her began to move. Sakura herself simply followed blindly as the long line trudged out of the chamber, into the outer hall before entering the Great Hall through the double doors. 

A magnificent sight rose up to greet them as they stepped into the vast hall. There were no lights in the Great Hall; it was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that floated magically above the table, lighting the four main tables in the hall, which all had golden plates and goblets lined up neatly on them. 

At the top of the hall was another long table that the teachers were sitting at. Eriol recognized several people that sat there, including Professor Dumbledore and of course, Hagrid. He didn't know that others; they were probably some teachers that had entered the school later. 

Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, where they could now see the sea of faces that stretched out beyond them in the hall. They squirmed uncomfortably, some sweating profusely as they gazed back at the students that sat on the benches. Her and there, the ghosts that had entered the chamber earlier could be seen, in between the students. 

Li could feel beads of sweat practically trickling down his neck as he gazed back at the curious faces. Sakura, on the other hand, looked up, trying to distract herself by looking at the ceiling that was dotted with stars on a black night sky, just like how the sky had seemed like before they had entered the castle. Indeed, it was a wondrous sight. 

Silently, Professor McGonagall placed a four legged stool in front of the first years before carefully a rather old and untidy pointed wizard's hat. Threads stuck out here and there from the frays, making the hat look rather dirty, and Tomoyo fidgeted, trying not to think of how she could've made a new hat like that. 

There was a thundering silence in the hall as everyone's attention was focused on this hat. It was then that the hat twitched, and the rip near the brim opened, just like a mouth, and the hat began to sing a song to the silenced hall. 

_"Oh, I am old as you may see,_

_But don't take me for that,_

_For long ago, four wizards met_

_And on one thing did they agree upon,_

_To educate young sorcerers,_

_Hence Hogwarts School began._

_Brave Gryffindor valued the courageous_

_Far above the rest,_

_Fair Ravenclaw on the other hand,_

_Preferred the smartest clan._

_Sweet Hufflepuff seeked more_

_Of hard workers everywhere,_

_Sly Slytherin still preferred_

_Those who did not play fair._

_So try me on!_

_And you will see_

_Where you ought to be_

_Because I can see _

_What you think_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat!" _

A loud round of applause echoed trough the hall as the Sorting Hat finished its song. It seemed to bow (at least from Sakura's point of view) to them before straightening up and becoming as still and stationary as before. 

Sakura could feel her stomach churning as she watched Professor McGonagall step forward, holding a long piece of parchment. Sweat beaded Sakura's forehead, and she bit her lip. For some reason, she never liked being in front of a stage, what more to face so many eyes that were fixed on her and the other first years. Tomoyo, on the other hand, seemed to be nonchalant, as she had much experience in these things. She had, after all, sang in many concerts and this was merely another one. 

"When I call your name, you will put the hat on and sit on the stool," Professor McGonagall spoke, her eyes not straying away from the parchment that she was holding at that moment. "Akizuki, Nakuru!" 

Nakuru ran forward, putting on the Sorting Hat that immediately fell over her eyes as she sat down on the stool. The crowd held their breath, as they waited for the hat's decision. 

Meanwhile, the Sorting Hat seemed to be having a little chat with Nakuru inside her head. 

"Well, well, I see there's much loyalty here," a small voice spoke in Nakuru's ear and she smiled inwardly, knowing that the Sorting Hat was talking to her. "And yes, much courage but also very playful and careless. Where should I put you?" 

_Anywhere, but not Slytherin_, Nakuru thought as she recalled the bitter memories of the many times that she had to endure Snape's wrath before. 

"Oh? Am I sensing hate here? Not Slytherin? Are you sure? Slytherin could help you- no? Well, better be HUFFLEPUFF!" 

The last word echoed throughout the hall and the Hufflepuff table erupted into loud cheers as she flashed them a grin and placed the hat back on the stool before jogging down to the table and joining her fellow Hufflepuffs who were proudly patting her back. 

"Brownstone, Stuart!" 

A tall, gangly boy with short, blond hair stumbled forward out of the line and jammed on the Sorting Hat as he sat down on the chair. There was a few seconds of silence, then- 

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat. 

Sakura watched as the boy took the hat off and placed it carefully onto the stool once more before jogging down to the Ravenclaw table. There were loud cheers from the Ravenclaws while some of them patted his back when he sat down shakily beside a tall, serious looking girl. 

"Bulstrode, Millicent!" 

A minute's pause- 

"SLYTHERIN!" 

"Cathurst, Ursula!" 

A petite freckled girl with long, brown hair stepped forward, visibly shaking as she placed the Sorting Hat on her head and sat down on the stool. It fell over her eyes, and there was another moment of silence- 

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat called out again, and this time, the Hufflepuff table (the table on the right) erupted in cheers once more. 

Sakura didn't have a very good feeling about this now. Although Eriol and Harry had told her earlier on that she had nothing to worry about, she could feel her stomach churning violently. What if she was Sorted into a house where she knew no one? 

Tomoyo touched her shoulder lightly, giving her a small smile and a wink. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'm sure it'll be all right. Besides, Nakuru-san has just put the hat on and nothing's happened, ne?" 

The card mistress nodded, her panic reducing slightly, yet she could still feel her heart pounding in her chest. She turned her attention back to the Sorting Hat who was now sorting 'Cervey, Hilda'. 

Next was- 

"Cerberus!" 

An astonished murmur swept through the hall as the small sun guardian flew forward and suddenly changed into his original form. Tomoyo giggled from beside Sakura, watching as he marched up to Professor McGonagall who placed the hat on his furry head. 

"I should have known that Kero-chan wouldn't stay in that form," she chuckled as she watched. "The Sorting Hat wouldn't fit him in that size." This lifted Sakura's spirits somehow, and she giggled softly alongside Tomoyo. 

A whole minute passed, and the crowd waited with bated breath for the hat's decision. At last, it called out- 

"GRYFFINDOR!" 

The Gryffindor table made such a noise that only could be quieted down by a swift, sharp piercing look from Professor McGonagall who then proceeded to call out, "Daidouji, Tomoyo!" 

Tomoyo winked and stepped forward before she placed the old and worn Sorting Hat on her head and sat down on the stool. The hat slipped over her eyes as it had for Nakuru, and all she could see was the dark, black inside of the hat. 

"Hmm," the Sorting Hat spoke in her ear, making her jump slightly in surprise. "Lots of talent, oh yes, my goodness. Plenty of courage, and not to mention cleverness too. Indeednow, where should I put you? Quite good hearted, I see. Oh? Not Hufflepuff? But I see some unwavering loyalty here- no? Then, better be in RAVENCLAW!" 

Tomoyo laid down the hat and gratefully scurried off. To tell the truth, she hadn't quite wanted to be in Hufflepuff as Nakuru was there, and she had seen enough of how Eriol's moon guardian antagonized Touya to want to be stuck with her. She received a few warm pats on the back as the Ravenclaws greeted her warmly. 

'Davidson, Julian' was made a Gryffindor next, just before 'Dinalle, Irene' was made a Slytherin. On and on the list went until- 

"Hiiragizawa, Eriol!" 

The young sorcerer strode forward confidently, his blue eyes shining, yet hiding some dark secret in its depths while his usual smile was pasted on his face. There were a few admiring sighs from the girls as they viewed his captivating dark blue eyes and his ever famous smile. 

Setting the hat carefully on his head, he took his seat on the stool and waited. He didn't feel nervous at all, as he had gone through this once before. Actually, he had never been to Hogwarts. It was merely Clow Reed that had schooled here once when he was still alive, so Eriol knew what was about to happen next. 

"I believe I have seen you around here before, have I not?" the Sorting Hat inquired in his ear. He smiled, knowing very well that the Sorting Hat knew whatever he was thinking about. " Hmm- difficult, very difficult indeed. A little evil too, but ahfor a good cause. Good hearted toobut more knowledge in herevery promising indeed. Well then, better be in RAVENCLAW!" 

The Ravenclaws rose up and clapped once more, with a smiling Tomoyo clapping the loudest of them all. She should have known that Eriol would be placed in Ravenclaw; he was after all, one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world and also one that was very gifted. 

He flashed her a smile as he sat down beside her, and she could feel her face somehow turning red. Why did she suddenly feel so nervous when he was here? 

Then, 'Jettison, Kim' 'Katson, Anna' 'Kinley, Dave' and at last, Professor McGonagall called out "Kinomoto, Sakura!" 

Sakura stumbled forward, feeling indeed very nervous. Her palms were cold and clammy as she lifted up the hat and placed it on her head with shaking hands. It fell over her eyes, blocking everyone else from her sight, and she held her breath, waiting. 

"Very brave indeed, and lots of pluck, I see. You seem caring and helpful, yet you're responsible and will do your best to help anyone whom needs it in any way. Talent, plenty, yesnow where should I put you? HmmRavenclaw doesn't seem quite right for you, I'm sorrydoesn't quite suit you" 

She cast a horrified look at Slytherin, praying softly that she wouldn't have to end up there. She had seen Draco Malfoy earlier, and she definitely didn't want to get stuck with him. If she did 

She shuddered, not wanting to even think about it. 

"Not Slytherin? Why not? Slytherin could help you in many things and help you become a great person-no? If then, better be in GRYFFINDOR!" 

Sakura was half shaking as she made her way to the Gryffindor table that was cheering ever so loudly. She had stopped shaking like a leaf when she took her seat at the table right across Ron, who flashed a thumbs up at her while Harry, for some odd reason, turned away from her and began chatting nonstop to Hermione, making her blink and blurt out "Hoe?" 

"Well done, Sakura, well done," Percy boomed pompously from behind her, making her jump slightly. She shot him a weak smile, and promptly turned her full attention back to the Sorting when she heard the name, "Kinomoto, Touya!" called out. 

Unfortunately, to Touya's horror, he was made a Hufflepuff and as he trudged all the way to the Hufflepuff table amid the hearty cheers and applause, he grimaced at the sound of Nakuru's high pitched "TOUYA-KUN!!!" Why did he have to be stuck with _her_ of all people? 

At last- 

"Li, Syaoran!" 

Li took a step forward, now feeling very awkward as he gazed back at the thousands of expectant eyes that were watching him carefully. Jamming the hat on, he closed his eyes, praying that somehow, he could end up in Gryffindor, together with Sakura and not in Hufflepuff (with Touya and Nakuru) or Ravenclaw (with Eriol and Tomoyo). 

"Oh? You don't want to go to Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw because of that Sakura girl? I see" the Sorting Hat spoke in his ear, making him turn tomato red as he looked down. How did this hat know what he was thinking about? Damn it 

"You have courage, indeed, much of it. Stubborn you are, but you have a soft spot when it comes to things that touch your heart, especially that girl, Sakura. (Syaoran turned red again) You've got talent, and you'll be great, no doubt." 

Li clutched the edge of his seat, biting his lip. Where was he going to be placed? 

"Still, you don't have an evil streak (Li practically cheered inwardly- he had been shooting death glares at Malfoy since they had entered the hall) so as well go to GRYFFINDOR!" 

He exhaled in delight, not noticing that he had been holding his breath the entire time. Jogging down to the Gryffindor table, he took a seat beside Sakura, who gave him a smile, making him blush all over again and turn crimson in the face. 

Things were different over at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables however. Touya was now shooting death glares at him once again, itching just to get his hands around Li's throat, and perhaps, if fate and Eriol permitted it, Nakuru's too. Eriol, on the other hand, looked genuinely pleased at the fact that his descendant had ended up in the same house as the new owner of the Sakura cards. It was, after all, known to him and Tomoyo that Li _did_ like Sakura. 

Next in line after Syaoran was- 

"Li, Meilin!" 

Meilin, stepped forward, her heart pounding faster than usual in her chest, jammed on the hat and sat, waiting breathlessly for the hat's decision. Where would she end up? She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the decision to come. 

"You have a good heart, I see," the hat told her, and she could imagine it somehow squinting down on her as a small smile formed on her face. "A thirst to prove yourself, but nevertheless, very talented. Brave and helpful too. Now, where should I put you? Not Slytherin (Meilin grimaced at the thought)? Then better be GRYFFINDOR!" 

There was life in her eyes as she took her seat beside Harry, who gave her a smile, making her turn red for a split second. She turned away immediately, feeling her face burn, making Ron, who had been sitting across the table from her, give Harry a look of surprise. What was wrong with her? 

The list had grown shorter by now, with the list of the students waiting to be Sorted getting fewer by the minute. They were in the Ss now 'Sinclair, Kirk' a pair of twins, 'Sintride' and 'Sintride', and at last- 

"Spinel Sun!" 

Eriol's sun guardian, just like Kero, transformed into his real form and strode up, keeping still as Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head. There was a silence and- 

"RAVENCLAW!" 

Spinel then transformed back into his usual form and hovered proudly before landing on the bench beside Eriol, who gave him a smile. "Well done, Spinel," he spoke as the small sun guardian bowed in return. 

"Yue!" 

The tall moon guardian strode forward silently, his footsteps practically inaudible. He placed the hat on his head delicately, and there was a thundering silence, only broken here and there by wondrous and admiring sighs from some fifth year girls that were goggling at him. 

"GRYFFINDOR!" 

'Zabini, Judy' became a Slytherin, and at last, Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment she was holding and took the Sorting hat away. Kero was looking expectantly at the plate in front of him now (he had been given a special place at the table, just like Spinel), as if waiting for something. 

Albus Dumbledore had now got to his feet and stretched out his arms warmly. "Welcome to a brand new year in Hogwarts! I only have two words to say to you: _Eat up_." 

Sakura watched, astonished as the plates magically filled with food in front of her eyes. Kero, on the other hand, didn't waste any time and grabbed a leg of the roast chicken and began to munch delightfully on it. 

"Mmmalwhays liked Hogwharths fheast food," he spoke as he dropped the clean chicken bone on his plate and reached out for a scoop of mash potatoes. Yue, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at his fellow guardian and didn't touch a plate (although he did consider transforming into Yukito for a split second but perishing the thought at last- what would Yukito think if he were to suddenly find himself in some unknown place filled with young witches and wizards?). 

Sakura could see the High Table much clearer now. Her leaf green eyes trailed as she studied each teacher as Hermione pointed out each one of them, one by one. 

"That one's Professor McGonagall," Hermione told her, pointing to the tall, stern looking witch. "I'm sure you know her already- she teaches Transfiguration. That's Professor Flitwick- he teaches Charms. And that's our headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, over there, sitting at the center of the table." 

"What about that one?" Sakura asked, pointing towards a teacher who had sallow skin, a hooked nose and greasy black hair. He was eating quietly, but Sakura could see that he was somehow eyeing the empty seat beside him for some odd reason. 

Fred Weasley's face loomed up beside her as he gave the teacher a dark look. "That's Snape- he teaches Potions. He's Head of the Slytherin house. Favours them too much, if you ask me. Mind you, keep away from him. He _hates _Gryffindors." 

Li cast Snape a glowering look, and as if sensing Li's stare, the teacher looked up, and gazed straight into his eyes. This only made Li narrow his eyes, giving the teacher his usual fierce glare before turning back to his half finished steak. 

"Come to think of it, who's our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Ron blurted out, chewing madly on a tough piece of his lamb chops. "I don't see anyone anywhere. Don't tell me _Snape's_ got the job!" 

"Nah," George cut in, forking some peas as he spoke. "Dumbledore won't let him. Still, I don't think that teacher's arrived yet,. Wonder who it'll be this year?" 

"The teachers never do last for more than a term, do they?" Seamus Finnigan sighed, looking up from his dinner. "First, Quirrell. Then Lockheart, Lupin, and Moody. Wonder who it is this year round?" 

When the plates were cleared of food (half of the Gryffindor table's feast had been demolished by Kero alone), their plates cleared magically, and this time, dessert appeared. Giving a squeal of delight, Kero took a big dollop of the jelly and began eating fast before stuffing himself full of chocolate cake. 

Spinel, over at the Ravenclaw table, only stared at Kero distastefully. He never had liked sweet things (couldn't eat them, anyway, so what was the point?), and he only sat there, watching as his fellow Ravenclaws fed on the delicious sweet desserts that had been served on the plates in front of them. 

At last, when the last piece of chocolate pudding had been eaten up, the crumbs faded off the plates, leaving them squeaky clean as before. Now, Albus Dumbledore had got to his feet once again, and a silence immediately fell over the hall. 

"Now that I see that all of you are fed and watered, I have some announcements to hand out. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would like me to tell you that our list of confiscatable items have been extended to Screaming Whistles, Ricocheting Quills and many other items. The entire list now holds at least five hundred and fifty-three items, I do believe, if anyone would care to check. This list is placed in front of Mr. Filch's office." 

"Hoe" Sakura whispered, her eyes growing wider by the second as she turned to look at Harry. "There are such things around here?" 

"If you know where to go," Fred whispered back, giving her a mischievous wink. "Zonko's would be a good start, though." 

"This year, I would also like to announce the arrival of 10 special students to Hogwarts. They are: Sakura Kinomoto, Li Syaoran, Eriol Hiiragizawa, Touya Kinomoto, Tomoyo Daidouji, Li Meilin, Nakuru Akizuki (a.k.a. Ruby Moon), Spinel Sun, Cerberus and Yue. If it would not trouble you, could these students please come up here please?" 

Muffling her loud "Hoe!", Sakura walked up the stage nervously, biting her lip harder than ever until it almost drew blood. Beside her, Li was clenching his fists, yet she could see a few beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Eriol, however, seemed at ease, and was smiling at the students that were now staring back at them. 

"Sakura, Syaoran, Meilin, Touya, Tomoyo, Eriol and Nakuru shall be joining the fifth year classes together with the other fifth years. Despite their age (there were several snickers now coming from the Slytherin table), they shall learn exactly the same syllabus as that taught by the teachers for the respective year. Spinel Sun, Cerberus and Yue, however, shall be assisting some teachers. It is a great pleasure to have them all here. Could you please give a big hand for them?" 

A thundering sound of applause rang through the entire hall as each house (except Slytherin) clapped, cheering for their respective member of their houses. The entire group finally stepped down and scurried back to their places when the clapping finally died down and all eyes were focused on Dumbledore again. 

It was now that the double doors leading into the Great Hall creaked open, and a tall, red haired woman with matching fiery, red eyes entered, taking long strides as she approached the High Table. She looked cool and dignified, with her long flowing hair combed until it was sleek and shiny. 

Sakura's mouth dropped open. Sputtering, she nudged Li who also seemed stunned by the sudden appearance of this seemingly familiar woman. Could it be? 

"Li-kun, isn't that _Mizuki-sensei_?" 

He nodded mutely, his mouth hanging wide open. What was she doing here? For all he might care, she should be frolicking all over England (with that reincarnation of his ancestor that is, if Eriol wasn't here), and not _here_, of all places. What was Kaho Mizuki doing in Hogwarts? 

They watched as she approached Albus Dumbledore, whispered something to him before a huge smile stretched across the headmaster's face as he motioned for her to sit down. 

"Nnani? What is _she _doing here?" Kero whispered, looking incredulous. His eyes never left the woman's liquid smooth motions as she sat down, casting a look at Eriol at the Ravenclaw table before turning to gaze at the group of them at Gryffindor (she avoided Touya's eyes from Hufflepuff, though). 

"I would also like to announce the arrival or your new teacher for the subject of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Mizuki ("Professor?" Li whispered incredulously.)" 

There was a loud round of applause, and the loud buzz of conversation immediately struck up. Some boys were gazing admiringly at her, taking in her composed, dignified appearance and practically swooning over her. There was indeed something about Kaho that made her special. 

"I'll be betting that Eriol knows something about this," Li hissed, shooting a glare at him. "First, he doesn't tell us about the others joining. Now, he doesn't even breathe a word about Kaho becoming a teacher here. He's getting to be too much!" 

Sakura had to practically grab his arm to restrain him from going over to the Ravenclaw table and strangling Eriol, who indeed, was watching the both of them with a very interested look in his eye. 

"Calm down, Li-kun! I'm sure he didn't mean it!" 

He inhaled, relaxing as he took his place once more, but not taking his eyes off the young reincarnation of Clow Reed. Muttering something under his breath, he turned back to the buzz of conversation that seemed to be taking place in the hall. 

It was when Albus Dumbledore cleared his throat when the noise finally died down. His beaming smile hadn't disappeared, and indeed, was growing wider by each word. 

"Now, just before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" he spoke, giving his wand a little flick. A long golden coloured ribbon seemed to flow out of it, and began to twist itself in a snakelike way, forming words. 

"Everyone pick their favourite tune and off we go!" 

Sakura didn't even have time to blink as the entire school began to sing, in different rhythms, melodies, harmonies and keys the school song that had been written in the air by the ribbon. Shrugging, she just joined in. 

The most noticeable voice was of course Tomoyo's, which rang out clear and pure amid the din. Several people paused in their singing, listening to her angel like voice as she sang the school song following the melody of one of the songs that she had learnt before. 

The song ended in different times, and when at last everyone had stopped singing, Albus Dumbledore wiped his eyes. 

"Music!" he spoke. "A magic beyond what we teach here! And now, it's time for bed. Off you go! Chop chop!" 

The Gryffindors were led by Percy (who seemed to get more and more pompous by the minute) out of the Great Hall. This time, Sakura was far too sleepy to gape at things like the talking portraits and moving knight suits, and even didn't scream loudly when they almost bumped into a ghost. She did feel rather sleepy after all that food, and now, all she wanted was a nice rest. 

At last, they arrived in front of a portrait of a very fat lady in a silk dress. 

"Password?" she said. 

"Leprechaun gold," Percy spoke, and the painting swung forward, to reveal a round hole in the wall. All of them scrambled in through the hole- and they found themselves in the Gryffindor common room. 

Percy directed the girls to through one door to their dormitory, and the boys through another. After mumbling a sleepy "Oyasumi" to Li, Sakura and Meilin dragged themselves up to the girl's dormitory, only pleased to find that their trunks had already been brought up. 

Each of them had a four-poster bed; each hung with a deep red, velvety curtain. They changed into their pyjamas, too sleepy even to discuss the events of the day. Falling onto the bed, Sakura closed her eyes in bliss. It had been a tiring day after all. Tiring, but fun too, with many surprises. 

Mumbling to herself, she was soon swept off to the faraway land of dreams  


Author's note: 

Well, that's another chapter done! *stretches* Gomen for taking such a long time to post this chapter, minna-san! I was caught by a case of writer's block ^_^;;, so I had to erase a few early attempts before finally coming up with this! And _just_ for you patient folks out there (who had to endure the results of my terrible song- never was a poet), I made it nice and long, so forgive my tardiness, OK? I'm going to impose a slightly stricter rule this time: if I don't get at least 7 reviews for a chapter , I will NOT post the following chapter at all! Sorry about that, but I hope this can boost my inflow of reviews =^_^=. Just drop by to have a read, and at the end, just type a short review of what you think. Doesn't have to be long, if you don't want to write so much! Anyway, I'm sure that this fic will have S+S and E+T (with a little troublewhy do you think I put Kaho in?), so keep your fingers crossed! Until next time, ja ne~! Domo arigato!   


Japanese words: 

Ano - Usually means "Uh" or "Er" 

Oniichan - Big brother 

Ne - Has two meanings. The first usually means 'hey!' and is placed at the beginning of the sentence/quotation. For example. Sakura might say "Ne, Li-kun". It can also mean 'right?' when placed at the end of a sentence. 

Nani- What? 

Oyasumi - The informal version of the greeting "Oyasumi nasai", which nevertheless, means 'good night'. 

Gomen - Sorry 

Minna - Everyone 

Ja ne - Goodbye, or "Sayonara" 

Domo arigato - Again, the informal version of "Domo Arigato Gozaimashita" or "Domo Arigato Gozaimasu" that nevertheless, means 'thank you'. 

-chan - Honorific for someone of status lower to yourself, and term of endearment for family and friends. Used mostly for females and is very informal. Is to be added at the end of the name 

-kun - Mr (junior), master, boy. Similar to chan, but mostly applied to males. Is to be added at the end of the name.   



	4. Breakfast-and the starting of the first ...

Dawn smelt sweet in the morning, as it slowly crept into the many towers of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sunlight slowly crept, an uninvited intruder into Gryffindor tower's girls' dormitory, sending rays of light that penetrated the velvety red curtains that hung at each bed, shining into each of its occupant's faces. 

Sakura herself blinked, shielding her eyes from the sunlight that was filtering in through the curtains as she stifled a drowsy yawn. Pulling back the curtains, the delicious smell of morning dew wafted into her room, surrounding her bed with the fresh smell of morning as she sniffed at it eagerly. 

Morning had never smelt like this in Tomoeda, she noted as she ran to take a look out of the window. The view was simply magnificent! Down below the tower, the wide lake glittered a welcoming blue, reflecting the morning sun's rays while the forest that stretched out in the horizon seemed to be dotted with green everywhere. The sky itself was lit by the very soft red and orange colours that streaked across the sky. 

It was oddly quiet in the room, unlike how it had been back in Japan, she reflected. Usually, there was a loud thumping from the room next door (Touya's room), signifying that her brother was up while the sizzling sound came from downstairs, most probably from the kitchen where their father was cooking up some delicious breakfast. Of course, Kero would be the one who would wake her up 

She blinked twice now. Talking about Kero, where was that small guardian beast? She had been too sleepy the night before to notice if he had been following her up here, so she had no idea where he was. 

"Kero-chan?" she called out tentatively. 

"If you want to know where that stuffed toy is, I think I saw him follow the boys up to their dormitory," came Meilin's drowsy voice from behind her curtains. The curtains were pulled aside and there sat Meilin, stretching as she gave a long yawn. Rubbing her eyes to clear it from the last traces of sleep, she gave Sakura a sleepy smile. 

"Ohayo, Meilin-chan," Sakura greeted with a bright smile as she watched the girl rub away the last traces of sleep from her eyes. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?" 

"Yes," the girl agreed as she stepped beside Sakura to have a look at the wonderful panorama that stretched down below the Gryffindor tower. "And Sakura-chan, you have to stop using Japanese here, or else no one's be able to understand you. It's better if you speak English here, ne?" 

Sakura raised an eyebrow in surprise as she blinked. "Hoe? But I can use some basic Japanese terms here, right?" 

Meilin herself had to suppress the urge to laugh as she viewed the image of Sakura, dressed in her nightgown with a totally confused look on her face. "I guess so, Sakura-chan. But you have to speak English to the other students, ne?" 

Hermione, who had been watching them quite amusedly from the corner of her eye, looked up from the book of spells that she had been studying earlier. "You can speak Japanese to me too, Sakura. I've learned Japanese before, so it's okay." 

The girl looked positively radiant at this piece of news as she spoke. "Hoe? Ne, Hermione, honto ni? Sugoi!" 

Meilin sighed, watching as Sakura started to babble a long line of Japanese to Hermione who patiently replied in perfect Japanese (with a slight British accent, of course). Teaching Sakura to use English in the school grounds was indeed going to be _very_ difficult  


*******  


LATER, AT BREAKFAST  


Sakura blinked, looking up from her bacon at Li, who was eating with his face away from Kero. Apparently, something had gone wrong in the boys' dormitory (or notthey were always on bad terms, anyway), and Li was apparently _very_ agitated at her sun guardian. 

"Ne, Yue-sama, what happened?" she asked her moon guardian, who was watching them eat their breakfast with an impassive expression on his face. He arched a fine eyebrow at her and gazed at Li and Kero carefully, only to receive two death glares from both the boy and his fellow guardian. 

"Well, Cerberus ate a _little_ too much yesterday night, so he simply went up to the dormitory and fell asleep. He didn't see the bed that they had made for him (probably was too sleepy), and this morning" 

Li snorted, and for the first time, looked up from the breakfast he was eating. Holding a half eaten muffin in his hand, he proceeded to tell the story, with much interruption from an indignant Kero. 

"The little stuffed toy here" 

"Watch it, Chinese gaki! I'm no stuffed toy and I could take you on any time!" 

Shooting an ominous warning glare at Kero, Sakura turned to Li. "Do continue, Li-kun." 

"I woke up this morning" Li began, recalling the past events of the morning as he kept a warning death glare on Kero who was on his guard to snap every statement of his. 

_He had woken up when the sunlight had most irritatingly found its way to his face and had somehow invaded even the darkest, most comfortable corner of his bed. So, he tossed and turned, trying to find somewhere else where the sun had not crept into._

"As if your bed was _that _comfortable anyway!" 

"Kero-chan, be quiet!" 

"When I opened my eyes, I found this little stuffed toy on my pillow!" 

"You left most of it out," Yue commented dryly as he watched Kero spear another sausage from the dish in front, then ignoring the death glare that was shot at him by the future heir of the Li clan. 

"Yes, gaki. Was it me who woke all the others up with a yell? _No_" Kero added in, eating the sausage with a triumphant look on his face as he spoke. "I might have _accidentally _fallen asleep on your pillow, but at least I didn't wake everyone else up, ne?" 

"A yell?" Sakura spoke, her eyes wide as saucers as she gazed at the two of them. "Hoe" 

"Indeed, a yell," Ron commented with a slight yawn. "I think it went something like, 'KERO-CHAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON _MY _PILLOW?'. Or something like that, I believe." 

"Well, this _stuffed animal_ could have at least paid more attention and found his own bed! Are you on _his_ side?" 

Sakura immediately jumped in at this point of the conversation, feeling that a huge fight was going to erupt if she didn't put a stop to it now. "A...Anolet's not fight, ne? Ne, Yue-sama, have you found out who you're assisting yet?" 

Yue himself didn't look quite pleased when he answered. "I believe that I shall be assisting Professor Snape ("What?" gasped Harry and Ron as his face darkened), Professor Sinistra, Professor Flitwick and perhaps Kaho-san herself." 

"Snape? The _Potions_ teacher?" Hermione gasped as her eyes grew wide. "But you can't be serious!" 

"Yue never lies," Sakura sighed as she shot a worried look at her moon guardian before turning to gaze at the Potions master himself who was sitting up at the High Table and was eating his breakfast beside Kaho very quietly indeed. "But do be careful, Yue-sama" 

"Yes." 

Yue's reply was curt, and Sakura could feel a sense of foreboding as she gazed at her moon guardian anxiously. "What about you, Kero-chan? Who are you assisting?" 

"Well" Kero scratched his head, trying to remember what Dumbledore had told him. "Someone called Professor Treloowney, I believe." 

"Trelawney," Harry groaned, as he threw a most disapproving gaze at the Divination teacher who was eating her breakfast at the High table with a very faraway look in her eyes. "She keeps predicting my death ("Been doing that for 2 years, and nothing's happened," added in Ron), thinking that I'll die one of these days. She's nothing but a big fake, though," he added, spotting the look of alarm on Sakura's face. "Anyway, do go on. Who else are you assisting?" 

"Perhaps Professor Sprout ("You can actually grow things?" sniffed Li) and perhaps Professor McGonagall," Kero added, engaging in another battle of glares with Li. Sakura could only sigh in defeat, and turned around to have a look at the other tables that were filled with students that were chattering to each other. 

"I wonder how the others are holding up?"   


*******  


Touya didn't like the start of this day at all. It hadn't anything to do with this school; it was just that he didn't like to be jumped and glomped on at such an early hour (he would only arrive in school half an hour later usually). To add to his problems, Nakuru didn't seem to show any signs of letting go. 

"Touya-kun, would you like a chocolate muffin?" Nakuru chirped, evidently in good spirits as she reached for yet another chocolate covered item. She was gripping him around the shoulders (as always) and smiling up at him as he sighed. 

"_NO_, Nakuru. Now can you please let go of me?" he retorted, trying futilely to shake her off. "Nakuru, LET GO." 

She shook her head obstinately, latching onto him even stronger than before as she took a happy bite out of her muffin. "Iie. I had to endure an entire night yesterday without you, so take this as a substitute, ne, Touya-kun?" 

He gritted his teeth in reply. What was the world coming to? Before all this, he could at least eat his breakfast in peace. Now, he couldn't even do anything without Nakuru hanging onto him! 

"Nakuru, do let go of Touya." 

The familiar voice from behind him rang clear as Nakuru sulkily dropped her grip on him. Spinning around, he found himself face to face with Eriol, who had been watching them for quite some time. A glint of interest shone in his eye as he watched his moon guardian carefully before arching a fine eyebrow. 

"I don't want to hear of any trouble from Spinel about your behaviour in class, is that clear, Nakuru?" he spoke, turning to look at Spinel. "Spinel shall be watching you when you enter the classes that he is in." 

"Yes, master," she spoke with a pout as she glowered at a triumphant Spinel. Seizing a big chunk of chocolate from her muffin, she grabbed her fellow guardian and proceeded to stuff it into his throat. Spinel choked, trying his best to stop Nakuru from doing so, only to fail miserably as he finally swallowed the chocolate. 

This drew a few surprised stares as Spinel leapt onto the table and began prancing up and down, eating all the sweet foods as fast as he could. Tomoyo, who had been sitting beside Eriol, could not help but laugh as she watched Spinel zoom to the Ravenclaw table and begin to eat whatever he could find on their table that had even the least bit of sugar in them. 

"You'll have to stop Spinel, Eriol-kun," she spoke at last, unable to stop giggling. "If not, I think he'll be eating the teachers' food too" 

"True," Eriol sighed and muttered a few words under his breath. At once, some invisible air currents brought his sugar drunk guardian back to him, who immediately fell asleep in his arms. "Look on the good side, at least he didn't cause as much damage as he did in the fair" 

Tomoyo raised an eyebrow as she watched him chuckle at the memory. "You mean the time when all the sweets disappeared at the fair? That was Spinel's doing? I thought it was Kero's!" 

"AhSpinel did meet Kero a little earlier, and if I'm not wrong, fed him with some sweets. You've seen the effect of what sugar does to Spinel, I presume?" 

"AnoI think Sakura-chan owes an apology to Kero-chan then" Tomoyo replied, sweatdropping as she watched Spinel began to speak in his deep slumber, twitching as he did so. "But you'd better control Nakuru-san. It won't be a good thing if Spinel gets a bad reputation on his first day." 

"Don't you worry, Tomoyo-chan. I doubt that Nakuru will do anything during classes. Nakuru may be mischievous ("Understatement," muttered Touya), but she does know how to behave sometimes. Especially during Potions, which she's having" 

"Tomorrow," Nakuru ended his sentence for him with a sour look on her face. "I wish I didn't have to actually _take _Potions. It isn't _that _compulsory, is it, master?" 

"Indeed it is," the reincarnation of Clow Reed spoke as he gazed at Nakuru with a slightly raised eyebrow. "And this time, I want to see some _good_ marks in Potions, Nakuru. Do I make myself clear?" 

"Hai," she spoke with a sigh as she hooked her arms around Touya again. "As well I make the best of today, then" 

Eriol could only smile and shake his head.   


FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER  


Sakura scurried up the stairs, now feeling quite lost as she looked from left to right. The corridor beyond her seemed dark and extremely frightening, and she inched away. She _shouldn't _have left breakfast early, she scolded herself as she gnawed at her bottom lip. Now, she was terribly lost, and had no idea where she was. 

"Shouldn't go there, girl. You should know you're not allowed to wander around." 

The voice sliced through the silence, making Sakura jump in fright. Spinning around, she came face to face with an old man, who was glaring at her with the most suspicious manner as he studied her. A cat slouched around his ankles, fixing its unwavering stare on her, and Sakura had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach as she bit her lip. 

"You're one of those first years who're going to the fifth year, aren't you?" he wheezed, his eyes narrowing dangerously, and she could see a most dreadful glint in them. "Shouldn't get into trouble, you should know, unless you're planning to get kicked out?" 

"I" she stammered, searching her brains for any excuse, but it remained obstinately empty, leaving her trembling as Filch moved closer. She could almost see the glimmer in them now as he flashed a crooked smile at her. 

"I'm sure you'll be enjoying your detention as much as you enjoy wandering around where you're not allowed," he growled with a hint of a threat in his voice. "Should do you good- detention should" 

Suddenly, there was a sound of tinkering glass from below the stairs, making Filch spin around while Sakura remained frozen on the spot. A little man that seemed to be wearing a bell-covered hat with an orange bow tie swooped through the hall, cackling as he held up something and waved it exuberantly at Filch, who snarled and cursed under his breath. 

"PEEVES!" he bellowed, shuffling down the stops as Mrs. Norris obediently followed her master, keeping alongside him as they made their way down the stairs. "You're going to get it this time, Peeves. You come back here!" 

Sakura practically let out a relieved sigh as she sank down to her knees. She had been _that _close to getting detention on her first day at school; what would her father think? Still, she was grateful with that Peeves- 

Wait a minute. Was it _Peeves _that Filch had called that little man? Peeves as in Peeves the poltergeist that Harry and Ron had been telling them about? A shudder came over her as she remembered how the ghost had gazed at Filch with his wicked little black eyes before zooming off, Filch hot at his tail. 

"I see that you've seen Peeves for the very first time, Sakura?" 

She looked up, and promptly stood up when she saw who it was, almost losing her balance on the steps. Kaho was gazing kindly at her, as she caught the girl's hands and steadied her, just when the staircase let out a load groan and began to glide across the hall. 

Grabbing hold of a column, she let out a terrified shriek as the staircase began to move. Why didn't the staircase stay still? Where was it going? Where was it going to take her? She squeezed her eyes shut, not daring to look down as the both of them were brought to the other side of the hall, one that was brightly lit by flaming torches with students walking here and there in the halls. 

Kaho smiled inwardly at the sight of Sakura clutching fearfully to the white marble column as it moved across the hall. From her point of view, she could see some students who were waiting for the staircase staring at terrified Sakura who had her eyes shut tightly. 

"Sakura, I think that you can open your eyes now," she assured her student softly as she pulled Sakura up by her arm gently. "We've arrived at the Charms corridor. Your next class is here, I do believe." 

The brown haired girl opened an eye, gazing around warily (and also drawing weird stares from the students that were clambering up the stairs) before she finally stood on her own, trembling as she did so. Her leaf green eyes roamed around as she took in her surroundings before her line of thoughts were interrupted by a gentle push from Kaho. 

"If you don't go now, you'll be late for Charms, Sakura," the red haired teacher rebuked her softly as Sakura looked back at her with a hint of doubt in her eyes. "Your friends will be waiting for you in the classroom, so you should be okay. Just walk down this corridor. The second last class from the end to your right is your Charms classroom. Good luck, Sakura." 

The young card mistress nodded, and holding her bag tightly, set off to find her classroom, weaving in and out of the groups of chattering students who filled the corridors. Finally, she arrived in front of a classroom, and took a step in, only to be greeted by Meilin who pulled her in. 

"Where did you go, Sakura-chan? Syaoran-kun almost wanted to send out a search party for youhere take this seat," she spoke, pointing at the seat beside her and Li, who blushed furiously at her next words. "Syaoran-kun reserved it specially for you" 

Sakura blinked, and flashed him a grateful smile, making him turn from crimson to tomato red, and embarrassed, he turned to look away at Harry and Ron, who were engaged in some deep conversation beside him. It was apparent how red his face was, however, for both the boys stopped in mid conversation and stared at his face curiously. 

Sakura, however, didn't seem to notice him blushing, and instead turned to speak to Hermione who was reading a very thick book of what Sakura could only guess to Charms. 

"So tell me, Hermione, what do we learn in Charms?" she asked her piercing green eyes looking straight at Hermione. "You've told me that Professor Flitwick is the teacher in charge of Charms. What does he teach?" 

"Spells," Hermione said, as she gestured towards her book. "Or rather, as the lesson calls it, charms. This is one of the lessons where our wands come in handy (Sakura immediately drew her wand out of her bag). We are taught all types of spells, like the Disarming Spell and the Summoning Charm. These spells can come in handy when in danger." 

"Danger?" Meilin inquired as she blinked. "Why would we be faced with danger?" 

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth as both Harry and Ron flashed her warning looks. "Oh! Nothingmy tongue must have slipped. They might come in handy for exams, I mean" 

Sakura and Meilin both exchanged questioning looks, as many questions popped up in their mind. Their line of thoughts was broken, however, when a short (and I mean _very _short) man entered the classroom. He was carrying a BIG pile of books, and Sakura recognized him as the Professor Flitwick that Hermione had pointed out to her during the start-of-term banquet. Still, she hadn't thought of him to be _that_ short 

Behind him, a tall, silver haired man who hovered about an inch off the ground glided into the classroom, ignoring the admiring sighs that came from half the girls in the class. Sakura sensed that Yue was displeased, yet she could see that he kept his own opinion strictly to himself. 

However, she couldn't deny the fact that Yue certainly had a fair number of admirers. Whispers rose up around her as excited girl huddled in groups as they kept their shining eyes on her moon guardian. Parvati Patil herself seemed to goggle at the mere sight of him. 

"Have you seen anyone as _handsome _as him?" 

"Do you think he'll go out with _me_?" 

Sakura sweatdropped. It seemed as if Yue was gong to have a _very _busy year indeed 

She turned her attention back to Professor Flitwick who seemed totally oblivious about the murmurs that were circling the class about his new teaching assistant as he piled each book that he had brought in one on top of each other. One by one, he painstakingly towered them up, and at last, when it was tall enough. He climbed up and stood on the very top book. 

"Good morning, students. Before I start the class, I'd like to introduce you to one of the new teaching assistants- Yue. He shall be helping me with the classes from now on." 

The card mistress could only shrug as she watched Yue give a slight bow and retreat behind Professor Flitwick, who cleared his throat. "As you are aware, students, we have three _special_ new students in this classroom at this very moment: Sakura Kinomoto, Li Syaoran and Li Meilin. Although their age are equivalent to those of first years (Sakura turned fiery red at this statement), their powers are equal to those of you in this class." 

They, too, were applauded, and Professor Flitwick proceeded to do the roll call as he did before every single class. 

Looking at the teacher that was standing on the pile of books that tethered dangerously off the edge, Sakura called out "Present!" as her name was mentioned as she wondered how the others were coming along in their classes. Were they enjoying their classes too? 

It looked as if they had a long way to go, she thought as she watched Professor Flitwick put away his register. Indeed, a very long way  


Author's note: 

Well, there's Chapter 4 done! *stretches* I can't express how grateful I am for your wonderful reviews (really! ^_^). I know this chapter might be a _little _shorter than the others, but I've been busy (it's true! There are so many things going on: Christmas, New Year and stuff like that). I can promise you, though, that the next chapter will be much, MUCH longer than this one, as to make up for my laziness this time, ok? Anyway, the old rule stays: if I don't get at least 7 reviews for the story, I won't post at all. I'm really, really sorry about this, but do spend at least a few minutes to tell me what you think about my story! I would like to point out, though (for one of the reviewers asked me this question), that Tomoyo _does _have magical powers, at least in my story. This is because I plan to incorporate E+T in my story (and yes, S+S too), so don't ask any more questions about that, ok? Anyway, until next time, ja ne~! Domo arigato!  


Japanese words:  


Ohayo - An informal version of the phrase "Ohayo Gozaimasu", which nevertheless, means "Good Morning". 

Ne - Has two meanings: one which when is put at the beginning of a sentence means "Hey!". For example, "Ne, Sakura!". However, when it is placed at the end of the sentence, it means "Right?". For example, "It is difficult, ne?" 

Honto ni - Really? 

Sugoi - Wonderful or amazing. 

Gaki - Brat 

Ano - Usually means "Uh" or "Er" 

Iie - No 

Hai - Yes 

Ja ne - Goodbye, or Sayonara 

Domo arigato - This is again, an informal version of the phrases "Domo Arigato Gozaimasu" and "Domo Arigato Gozaimashita", which nevertheless, mean "Thank you". 

-chan - Honorific for someone of status lower to yourself, and term of endearment for family and friends. Used mostly for females and is very informal. Is to be added at the end of the name 

-kun - Mr. (junior), master, boy. Similar to chan, but mostly applied to males. Is to be added at the end of the name.   
  



	5. Lessons

Sakura kept her eyes trained on the _extremely _short Professor Flitwick who now was standing on his pile of books with a wide smile on his face. He didn't seem at all like Professor Snape that she had seen during the start-of-term feast yesterday or Filch for that matter, and she was thankful for that. 

"Now that you're all finally back in Hogwarts, you'll have to continue with your syllabus, as you have to take your O.W.Ls this year. I assume that all of you have already started revising your past years' work for this year's major exam?" Flitwick spoke, looking around expectantly. Only Hermione was nodding away happily in her seat there; the others seemed to stare back at him blankly as if they had no idea what he was talking about.

"What are O.W.Ls?" Sakura whispered to Harry who sat just beside Li. "Owls?"

Ron practically choked; drawing a few curious stares from his fellow Gryffindors as he quickly turned it into a loud coughing fit. Sakura blinked, looking confusedly at Ron, who was trying his best to stifle his own laughter, then at Hermione, who had a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"O.W.Ls stand for _Ordinary Wizarding Levels_, Sakura-san (Hermione had decided to add a little formality to Sakura's name). It's the major exam that we have to take this year, and mind you, it's really difficult," Hermione explained, half listening to Flitwick as she spoke. "Trust me. I've done some of the trial papers, so I do know their format (Sakura was sure that she heard Ron snort)."

"…This year, we will be starting of on a slightly faster pace," Flitwick was saying in front of the classroom. "Close your books now. I just want to do a little revision with you today; we'll just practice the charms that we learned last year- The Summoning Charm, Banishing Charm and others. Sakura, Syaoran, Meilin, do come up here with your wands. I'll show you how it's done. Yue, could you please fetch some of those cushions from that cupboard for me?"

Yue complied without uttering a word. This seemed strange, and Sakura shot him a curious look. She knew that it wasn't polite to say this, but Yue seldom listened to other people, much less follow anyone's orders except hers or Clow's.

Still, it_ was _his job, she thought before dismissing it with a shrug. Come to think of it, she wondered how Eriol, Tomoyo, Nakuru and oniichan were enjoying their new classes?

-------

Tomoyo frowned as she stood in front of a weird looking plant, while Eriol, who was standing beside her, looked positively relaxed as they watched Professor Sprout stride into the greenhouse. They were having Herbology for their first lesson, yet Tomoyo doubted that she had ever seen this plant that had been placed in front of her ever before.

It had small, short white wings at its side, its leaves streaked with a light aquamarine colour that made it looks as if this bush itself had been painted with blue and green stripes by someone who hadn't the faintest idea of how plants were supposed to look like. 

On the other hand, the colour coordination didn't seem so bad, she thought as she studied the plant again. If she were to make a costume for Sakura mixing these two colours so that they blended in, it didn't seem so bad after all…

Beside her, Eriol chuckled softly to himself. Being able to read her mind, he could see a design slowly taking shape in her mind, each stitch painstakingly imagined. At last, she tucked it away in her mind, hoping that she would remember this design until lunch, when she could finally get her hands on some parchment and draw it all out.

Tapping her lightly on her shoulder, he shot her his famous smile, bringing her back to reality as he pointed silently to Professor Sprout who was standing up front. She blushed for a split second, ashamed to be caught unaware and not paying attention in class before turning her attention to the Herbology teacher who was speaking out in the front.

"What you see in front of you is a Hollywing Bush," Professor Sprout was saying as she looked down at her own Hollywing Bush that seemed to be hovering (with a flutter of its wings here and there) in mid air, as if suspended there. "You will have to pluck the feathers from its wings; not a very easy task, I warn you. Hollywing Bushes are one of the fastest plants known, and to catch them requires great speed. Strength is also mandatory as it _is _rather difficult to hold it down."

"However," she continued, completely unaware of Tomoyo's mouth that was hanging open. "Spells have been cast on these Hollywing Bushes, to slow them down. All the same, you will have to catch them to pluck their feathers. Do be careful not to step on any of the feathers though, for Hollywing Bush feathers are valuable, they can come in handy for quite a few remedies."

Tomoyo gazed down at he own bush, scrutinizing it with a raised eyebrow. All of a sudden, it flew up, throwing her off balance. It was by pure luck that Eriol caught her deftly, giving her a smile as he watched her bush zoom around the greenhouse with such speed.

"If this is slow, these bushes _must_ be hard to catch," Tomoyo muttered as she watched a group of girls duck as the bush flew low, almost brushing against their heads.

It was then that a most unpleasant, yet familiar voice rang out, its insult being directed to the both of them. 

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the first year babies. Having trouble with your bushes, _babies_?" 

Tomoyo whirled around, not knowing who it was, but Eriol, who was _quite _acquainted with this _particular_ speaker as they had met before, simply smiled and closed his eyes. 

"I take it that you want another flying lesson _without _a broom, Malfoy?" he spoke calmly, acting as if the Slytherin hadn't even spoken. "You didn't do very well the last time; would you like another try?"

The Clow circle appeared around Eriol, and Malfoy retreated a few steps, only to bump into Crabbe and Goyle who were exchanging anxious looks of panic at each other, evidently recalling what had happened to Malfoy yesterday on the train.

It was now that Eriol opened his mysterious dark blue eyes and gazed at the three of them. "Or perhaps your friends might like to have a go too?"

Malfoy, apparently sensing a warning in Eriol's tone, turned and walked away, a huge sneer upon his face. Apparently, his first run in with Eriol brew enough reminders and reasons why he _shouldn't _go near that Hiiragizawa boy. Crabbe and Goyle scurried after him, not wanting to rouse Eriol's anger either (despite the very fact that Eriol seldom got angry- who knows what he would do if provoked?).

Tomoyo's eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she watched the three Slytherins walk off, each of them shooting nasty glares at Eriol who seemed to smile back at them. Now, the smiling sorcerer turned back to her, and with a wave of his wand, halted her fleeing Hollywing Bush in mid air. With much less of a sweep of his arm, it landed quite smoothly back in front of her, and he raised an eyebrow when he noticed that she was still staring at him.

"I suggest that you should hold that bush down, Tomoyo-chan. I can't restrain that bush with my magic forever," Eriol remarked, his smile now widening into a grin. She blushed once more, her face glowing a much brighter red, making her previous blush look pale in comparison.

Then, with all her strength, she held down the struggling bush just when he released his magic from the plant. It immediately began to flap its white wings in a most panicked manner, making it totally impossible for her to even get a hold on its violently flapping wings. 

She gritted her teeth, now realizing the truth in Professor Sprout's words as she kept an iron-like grip on the Hollywing Bush that seemed desperate to escape from her clutches. This plant possessed such strength, she reflected as she bit her lip, restraining the urge to sneeze as a ticklish branch of leaves brushed on her nose. How could anyone possibly even _extract _a feather from its wings?

Eriol sighed, watching as Tomoyo held down the bush in the most comical way he had ever seen. Reaching into his bag, he brought out his old wand (the one that Clow had used when he was still in Hogwarts) and pointed it at the bush that seemed to be striving to release itself from Tomoyo and to fly free once more.

"Stand back, Tomoyo-chan. You won't want this to hit you, believe me."

She blinked, taking a step back just in time as he waved his wand and shouted, "_Stupefy_!". Her eyes widened as the plant suddenly froze and dropped listlessly into an astonished Tomoyo's hands. She stared at it, her eyes wide with surprise. 

"What did you do?" she spoke up at last, finding her voice as she stared at it, awed. Daring herself to step closer to the motionless plant, she gingerly extracted a feather from its now unmoving wings before looking up at him again.

He smiled comfortingly at her, realizing her shock as he caught his own Hollywing Bush with such ease. "Don't worry, Tomoyo-chan," he replied, his voice gentle as he Stunned it before plucking some feathers off his own bush. "I've just Stunned it. It won't harm the plant in any way, I promise. Don't worry; it'll be back in its normal state when you finish, as good as new. Daijobu?"

"Daijobu," she replied, now happily plucking the feathers off her Hollywing Bush. She did so wish that she could learn these spells, she thought as she removed yet another feather from the bush's wings. They seemed ever so fascinating, and besides, they were the reason why she decided to come here to Hogwarts; she wanted to cast spells just like Li, Sakura and Eriol…

-------

Touya snorted irritably as he tried to push Nakuru away. Apparently, since she couldn't glomp him (much to his relief) as the teacher was watching, she had resorted to hanging on to his arm and not letting go of it. This made writing difficult for him, as he was forced to write with his left hand (Nakuru was hanging on to his right unfortunately). 

To tell the truth, he was _very _tempted to change places with someone in front, just as long as he had a chance to escape from the clutches of Nakuru Akizuki. He couldn't possibly imagine how Eriol could tolerate such behaviour from his moon guardian without going crazy. That Hiiragizawa boy must know something that he didn't he thought as he tried, for the millionth time to shake her off.

"Nakuru, let go of my hand," he hissed. "I can't write with my left hand, especially if I'm holding a quill. Now, LET GO."

The persistent moon guardian didn't show any signs of letting go, though, as she stuck out her tongue at him and latched herself onto his hand even tighter and grinned. 

"You can copy my notes later, Touya-kun!"

He sighed, wondering how accurate and neat Nakuru's notes could _possibly _be. He had seen her writing once (he had been forced to sit close to her for a few moments of pure torture before while he was at school), and the first thing that came to his mind when he had seen it wasn't _tidy_. The words 'unreadable' and 'terrible' were one of the things that he thought at that very moment, though.

"Nakuru Akizuki, for the fourth and _last _time, I repeat: you're disrupting the class! Now will you _please_ release Touya Kinomoto's hand and _concentrate_?"

The both of them jumped at the sudden boom of the angry voice, and Nakuru looked up with a slight pout on the face of the furious teacher that stood beside them. This only infuriated the already angered teacher even more, as the entire class watched the drama that stood unfolding in front of them.

"Five points from Hufflepuff!" he exclaimed with cold fury as he pointed to an empty seat at the far end. "Nakuru, move to that seat over there at the corner; Kinomoto, you stay here. I don't want anymore disruptions, _is that clear_?"

Their classmates scowled at them, as if giving them a warning not to anger the teacher anymore; they didn't want any more points taken away. Nakuru shrunk back, a pout on her face as she sighed in defeat.

"Yes, Professor."

Gathering her things from her desk, she trudged slowly to the seat at the right hand corner of the class, her pout slowly deepening into a frown. Just when the teacher's back was turned, she stuck out her tongue at it, wanting to throw her pile of textbooks at him.

It wasn't fair, she thought as she slammed her books down (another sharp glare from the Muggle Studies teacher) on the table; all she wanted was to collect a little power from Touya. Was it wrong? As far as _he _was concerned, she didn't think so.

Touya however, seemed to think differently about this.

He breathed a sigh of relief, massaging his right arm before switching his quill from his left hand to his right hand. He hated how Nakuru gripped his hand; she always made it cramp and it usually did take him a long time to actually feel the blood flowing into his veins once more.

Besides, he had a whole list of notes to rewrite (it was practically impossible the read what he had written earlier- his writing seemed totally illegible), and wasn't looking forward to that at all. It looked as if he had to spend his entire evening in the library; he needed to decipher this terrible writing by tonight.

Nakuru didn't seem to taking her punishment willingly; her frown was still etched on her face as she glared daggers at the teacher, her high spirits now slightly dampened by the sudden punishment. She had taken (and partially forced Touya) Muggle Studies because of the rumours that she had heard which said that the Muggle Studies teacher wasn't very strict at all. 

Apparently, it wasn't true, she reflected bitterly. It was true that he _was _slightly better than Snape (she didn't want to think about that either), but all the same, he was as harsh and rule abiding as Professor McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor house.

Was it her imagination or was Spinel who was sitting in front _smirking _at her? Why, when she'd get her hands on that sun guardian…! Suppi was going to regret that silly smirk when she wiped it clean off his face!

Eriol was going to hear about this too, she realized as she glared at her fellow guardian. With Spinel being the teaching assistant here, he was sure to (and was definitely going to) inform their master about this _misfortunate_ incident in her first class of the year.

Still, it was only the first class, she thought, shrugging. One class that went like this didn't mean that it would stay this way throughout the entire year, did it? 

Smiling, she started to imagine stuffing a whole chunk of chocolate down Suppi's throat. That would surely be sweet revenge…

-------

Sakura inhaled, gazing at her wand that she held in her hand. She couldn't understand why she was so behind in performing the spells that Flitwick was teaching them; the others were already learning the Summoning Charm while she was still stuck trying to make her Disarming Charm work.

It seemed hopeless; no matter how loud she uttered the words or how fancily she waved her wand, Professor Flitwick's wand stayed where it originally was: in his hand. It was so infuriating, and her patience was running out.

Li, who was stood beside her, paused from his practice of the Summoning Charm as he watched her try again to perform the Disarming Charm. Sakura's forehead now wrinkled up in concentration as she stared at Flitwick's wand, concentrating on the long piece of wood that the teacher was holding in his hand.

"_Expelliarmus_!" she cried as she held her breath, only to be disappointed when Flitwick's wand didn't even move. This Charm seemed to test her patience; she had managed to perform the Levitating Charm (_Wingardium Leviosa!_), the Leg Locker Charm and others from the first and second years. It was until she arrived at the Disarming Charm that she was stuck.

There was something wrong with the way she was performing the Charm, Li reflected as he watched her try again. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something _did _seem wrong. Still, what was wrong?

"Syaoran? Is there anything wrong?" Professor Flitwick asked, noticing that he had stopped practicing the Summoning Charm. "Is there something that you don't understand? Come, let me have a look at how you do the Summoning Charm. Excuse me for a minute, Sakura."

Sakura nodded obediently, her leaf green eyes meeting Li's amber ones for a split second, making him turn away with a bright red blush on his face. Fortunately, Flitwick didn't catch this sudden exchange of emotions.

Li raised his wand, and pointing it towards a cushion that had been placed at the other end of the room, cried out, "_Accio_!". Obediently, it zoomed to him, landing neatly in front of him on the table, as Flitwick nodded approvingly.

"Well done, Syaoran. Now, what about you, Meilin?"

Sakura wiped the perspiration that beaded her temples as she stared at her wand, frustrated. What had she possible done wrong? She had been careful to observe that she said the correct words, and that she flicked her wand in the correct way. So _what _was wrong? Why couldn't she Disarm Professor Flitwick?

She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice that Li was gazing at her, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to pinpoint the fault in her Disarming Charm. Finally, he had a theory, but he had to test it out first.

"Sakura-chan, practice that Charm on me," Li spoke up at last to a most astonished Sakura. She stared at him and blinked, only succeeding to make his face turn red as he looked away. "As long as the teacher's not teaching anything yet, as well make the best of it, ne?"

"Honto ni?" Sakura spoke as she stared at him, now acknowledging the bright crimson colour that had spread all over Li's face, making him look as bright red as a tomato. "You'll let me practice on you?"

"Yes. No, you're holding your wand in the wrong way, Sakura-chan. You shouldn't hold it by your fingertips, you should grip it just like this. Yes, like that," he pointed out, correcting her grip, which he noticed was slightly off par.

"Then, lift your wand, and point it at _me_. No, not at my wand, you might not get a direct hit anyway. Concentrate; don't let your attention waver…"

Sakura followed his instructions, her concentration so intense that Li could have sworn that her stare itself could have shattered a window. She wasn't going to fail this time, she promised herself silently.

"_Expelliarmus_!"

This time, Li's wand flew out of his hand, and landed a few feet away from him, much to her very surprise. She had done it! After all her failed attempts, she had finally been able to perform the Disarming Charm!

Professor Flitwick had apparently been watching, and now had a wide smile upon his face as he watched his student, after making sure that Meilin understood thoroughly how to perform her Summoning Charm properly. 

"Nice work, Sakura. Can you show me how your performed that charm again?" he asked.

Sakura swallowed, unsure if she could repeat her previous feat. All the same, it couldn't hurt to try, could it? Raising her wand so that it pointed at Flitwick's wand, she inhaled, her muscles tense. She could do it, she reassured herself as she closed her eyes.

Opening those leaf green eyes again, she held her breath, and-

"_Expelliarmus_!"

The long wand flew out of Professor Flitwick's hand, and landed neatly in front of Sakura as she jumped up in joy. She had managed to perform to Disarming Charm at last!

A few of the Gryffindors who had been quietly practicing their Charms at the back of the class looked slightly stunned at the sudden commotion up front. There were a few whispers, and Sakura turned red, managing a smile when she realized what she was doing.

Li himself was shaking his head and sighing while Meilin could only raise her eyebrows and sigh.

Author's Note:

Konnichiwa! Tadaima!! 

*ducks as millions of red tomatoes are thrown at her* I know this chapter's been _very_ late! I know, I know! You can stop throwing those tomatoes already! *sighs* As I've written in my profile, I've been quite busy with school lately. They're just so many activities to join…

Anyway…! Chapter 5 is out _at last_, and I hoped you enjoyed it! Tomoyo is _slightly_ off character here, and I promise that I'll get back to her real character soon, ok? This is just temporary, so don't freak out yet, Tomoyo fans! I'll try to post my next chapter as _soon _as possible (but that would take some time as I have my exams coming up -_-;;), so keep our fingers crossed, minna! Er….the 7 reviews rule doesn't seem _quite_ right to ask from all of you now, so…5 reviews at least? Onegai!!!! I still have to survive as a fanfic writer ne? All right then, until next time, ja ne~! Domo arigato!

*runs out amid the shower of tomatoes* ^o^

Japanese words:

Daijobu - If it's a question, like "Daijobu?", it means 'Are you all right?". If it's an answer, like 'Daijobu yo', it means 'Yes, I'm all right.'

Ne - Has two meanings: one which when is put at the beginning of a sentence means "Hey!". For example, "Ne, Sakura!". However, when it is placed at the end of the sentence, it means "Right?". For example, "It is difficult, ne?" 

Honto ni - Really?

Konnichiwa - Hello, or good afternoon…it depends

Tadaima - I'm back

Minna - Everyone

Onegai - Please

Ja ne - Goodbye, or Sayonara 

Domo arigato - This is again, an informal version of the phrases "Domo Arigato Gozaimasu" and "Domo Arigato Gozaimashita", which nevertheless, mean "Thank you".

-chan - Honorific for someone of status lower to yourself, and term of endearment for family and friends. Used mostly for females and is very informal. Is to be added at the end of the name 

-kun - Mr. (junior), master, boy. Similar to chan, but mostly applied to males. Is to be added at the end of the name. 


End file.
